作者：Will Freeman

经过多年的挣扎，南美国家的游戏开发产业终于崛起，成为一个强大的新兴市场。

如果你对游戏产业的内部运作有足够的兴趣，那么你应该听说了，拉丁美洲的新地位就是重要的新兴市场。

游戏开发在整个大陆全面开花，牵头的是南美的一个国家：巴西。它的游戏开发商们渴望告诉世界，他们准备与全球领先的游戏开发中心一争高下。

关于巴西的古板印象当然是这个地区的风景。这个国家以优美的自然风光、多样化的城市文明和聚会者的天堂而闻名全球。

这种形象基本上是良好的，但是，团结致力于将巴西变成游戏开发热点的工作室和团体组织却渴望为它塑造另一种形象。

巴西，对开发者来说，是一片充满机遇的大陆，愿意付出努力的人将得到丰厚的奖赏。这个国家的网络基础设施正在快速建立，新一代的开发者将有更多资金和时间投入于游戏。

Nano Games是一个位于里约热内卢的游戏工作室，Werther Azevedo是它的设计总监，他表示：“我认为巴西的游戏业还相当年轻，所以它没有足够的时间培养某一方面的强项。”

“我能说的就是，在数字媒体行业，我们的工作室以全面发展闻名。就职业而言，我们是多面手，我认为这个特点使工作室更适应游戏行业。巴西人用创意的方法解决困难的问题，这是出了名的。”

网络环境

然而，有人指出，巴西开始培养优势和专长，很大程度上归功于上述提到的网络基础设施建设到达新水平。

圣保罗的Mayness工作室的Fernando Pepe Barbalho Pereira 解释道：“因为网络技术和智能手机的大量普及，大多数独立工作室选择那些平台上的游戏作为开发对象。”

“在这些平台上，游戏广告的需求量也相当大，特别是社交网络——例如Facebook和手机。”

从事游戏发行和本土化的巨头公司UOL BoaCompra的Julian Migura补充道：“近来巴西确实已经做得很好了，很大程度上是因为基础设施的完善，随之导致家庭入网率的大大增加。”

“但是，即使整个国家的玩家已经惊人地接近4千万，却只有50%的人能够访问网络，这意味着以后几年有希望看到连接率的进一步增加。”

这里强调的是期望值，而不是稳定的网络连接的数量。就这点看来，巴西的玻璃杯还是半空的，但游戏业正在合作将它填满。

社交和手机工作室向整个地区，包括邻近的拉丁美洲国家打开大门，并且是以惊人的速度，它们都对形成相互连接的游戏体验怀有兴趣。

但为什么是现在？巴西的大城市很早以前就能通过网络连接世界了，况且作为一个创新型国家，它的普通民众是很受重视的。

税收问题

事实是，巴西的游戏开发商长久以来都面临着一个艰难的核心问题，真到现在才得以解决。正如Pereira解释的，被再三提起的一个问题是税收，这对巴西的技术产业来说是一个大难题。

“不幸的是，在巴西，我们的税收量非常大，特别是对游戏和相关服务。除了税收以外，投资商对初期发展不景气的市场和停滞的经济也没有什么信心。”

国际市场的开发，与巴西经济的稳定有关，这使局势有所改观，但压力仍在，那就是政府是否认可游戏行业的潜力。

Azevedo解释道：“我们仍然面临来自政府的高税收。巴西的劳动法对企业家相当苛刻。无论我们雇用什么新员工，我们必须支付他们薪水再加上100%税收。这就导致我们的成本比其他国家如加拿大、美国或澳大利亚更高。”

他透露，虽然政府方面有激励机制，但因为效率低下的系统和“严重的腐败问题”，使那些寻求国家当局帮助的人的希望破灭了。

巴西开发商还有另一个难题要强调。

巴西游戏展的总监Marcelo Tavares很快将话题转向更加积极的方面：“过去，我们存在盗版的大问题，还有产品的非法买入问题。现在，盗版减少了，许多公司在巴西建立了新闻办事处和工厂。另一方面，所有产业的经济都在成长，国际赛事如世界杯和奥运会的举办都表明这个国家变强大了。”

进步

无论如何，Tavares的乐观是正确的，因为巴西游戏业的萧条已经成为历史，展望未来是件好事。

Aeria Games首席执行官Pascal Zuta表示：“今天的巴西相当于两三年以前的土耳其。当那里的市场爆发时，大家都涌向土耳其，现在巴西也发生这种现象了，但规模还更大。”

导致巴西游戏业全面繁荣的部分原因是，这个国家毫无疑问，已经抓住了买得起的开发工具带来的机遇。

游戏制作可能还不会阻碍门外汉，巴西已经负担得起也拿得到开发软件，使它免于税收和盗版的灾难。

Rafael Hrasko是维多利亚港的Interama工作室的商务总监，他表示：“我相信现在更容易制作游戏了。当技术问题解决了，那就只剩创意了。而巴西人多的就是创意。”

“再加上数字化推广，即使没有大发行商帮你发行游戏，你也不难存活下来。现在，你要做的就是有网络连接，有成功的营销活动。”

有些人可能会指责Hrasko的天真，但他表现的是巴西游戏开发业中散布的乐观精神。随着许多大问题的解决，像在线发行和推广的问题就不那么令人担忧了，何况巴西正准备解决这些问题呢？

Hrasko和其他人还表示，那些因为人才流失的原因离开巴西前往加拿大的人，现在又返回来了，因为发现巴西游戏业态度乐观、机会很多。

但不只是那些远走他乡的自家人才们才关注巴西的游戏业，电子和开发巨头如SCEA也正前往巴西。

机会来敲门

Bruno Matzdorf是SCEA的开发服务和支持团队的资源开发程序经理，他所在的公司看到了拉丁美洲的机遇，所以两年以前就将PlayStation 3发行到这个地区了。Matzdorf认为：“从SCEA的角度看，我们感到兴奋的是，我们现在可以将开发设备运到大部分国家，从墨西哥到智利。”

“这意味着更多开发商有机会向世界展示他们在PlayStation主机上的作为。运送开发硬件曾经是一个大难题，但我们知道，为了培养开发者，为了让他们在主机上发挥潜能，我们必须克服困难。”

世界上最大的游戏开发公司将他们的开发硬件运往巴西，给这个南美国家带来福音，显然，一些特别的事正在发生。

另外，免费模式似乎最让巴西开发商感到兴奋，因为他们正在努力用自己的游戏产生全球性的影响。

Azevedo解释道：“我认为免费模式就是为巴西玩家量身定做的，巴西的盗版问题一度严重，不只是在游戏业，还有音乐和电影行业也一样。”

“巴西人喜欢免费玩游戏，从文化上看，他们也有免费获取数字产品的偏好。所以我认为免费模式，也就是让玩家先无偿地试玩游戏，然后成为忠实的游戏玩家，这是非常适合巴西玩家的模式。”

突破

为了游戏业的发展，巴西与其他国家和地区一样，需要大量有技术的工作室，但这始终是一个挑战。

从这个方面说，它的问题并不典型。这里有的是人才，但就职位而言，巴西游戏业的规模还相对对，这意味着吸引人才总是有困难。

Nano Games已经根据Nickelodeon和MTV的电视剧制作手机游戏了，供职于这家工作室的的Azevedo表示：“我们当地的学校提供很好的艺术和设计学科，但在开发领域就没这么多了。”

他又补充道：“我们的行业很小，每年都无法满足对游戏有兴趣的毕业生，所以我得说，海外的招聘人员可以找到热情、努力、想从事游戏的员工。”

所以，许多当地培养出来的未来的游戏制作人都供职于国外的公司，或如UOL BoaCompra的Migura指出的，或从事巴西的其他的发达的技术行业。

“在巴西很难找到合格的员工，特别是网页游戏，因为你是在与支付高薪的媒体和网络公司抢夺员工。许多人开始给阿根廷、智利、墨西哥、葡萄牙或美国的公司包外开发工作，或正在考虑这么做。”

然而，有些人认为巴西的当地人才库确实有一点无法满足游戏业的需求，根据Mayness Studios的Pereira，国家的教育机构应该有所作为了。

“对于这个市场，在巴西很难找到合格的人才。不幸的是，开发商的数量与国内市场相比，增长速度比较慢。”

Interama的Hrasko同意道：“教育在每个行业都是问题，主要是因为人才通常供职于政府或行业，而不是从事教学。当然，有些好学校里还是有些优秀的教授的，但他们是例外，不是常规，”

宏伟的计划

但是，市场仍然在成长，游戏业会变得更加吸引人，随后游戏也将更加复杂，会获得全球的认可，最终实现赢利，到那时，员工的问题也会随之解决的。

Aeria的Zuta表示：“在巴西挣钱不容易，很费时间，所以你必须非常努力。在这里，发行商的障碍很多，因为税收难题、基础设施不完善和复杂的薪资模式。”

“拉丁美洲也有这些问题，但如果你可以克服这些障碍，奖励就非常丰厚，因为这里有正在成长的市场，并且 竞争并不像其他地方那么激烈。”

Azevedo提出巴西的挑战，提醒我们的是，尽管巴西是世界上最热衷社交活动的国家之一，但让它成为游戏新兴市场的却是努力工作的态度。

“尽管在国际社会看来，在巴西，似乎无论什么时候人人都爱参加聚会，但我们其实是非常努力工作的。”

“我们的公司已经为生存而与各种困难抗争了五年了，我们仍然在发展壮大，其他巴西公司也一样。”

如果他的话可信，但愿在以后几年同，我们还能听到更多来自巴西游戏行业的好消息。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Region Focus: Brazil

by Will Freeman

After years of struggle, the South American country’s development sector is establishing itself as a powerful emerging market

If you have even a passing interest in the inner workings of the games industry, you’ll have no doubt heard of the Latin Amerian nation’s new status as a vital emerging market.

The development scene proliferating across the continent is booming, but there is one place in South America leading the charge. That nation is Brazil, and its games makers are eager to show the rest of the world that soon – if not already – they will be equipped to rival the output of the globe’s leading development hubs. Interama

The clichés about Brazil certainly paint a kind picture of the region. It is famed for the beauty of its landscape, the cultural diverse make-up of its urban communities and its status as a go-to destination for those who love to party.

Such stereotypes are hardly unpleasant, but the studios and organisations collectively striving to propel the country into the games development spotlight are keen to project a very different image.

Brazil, say its developers, is a land of opportunity, with great rewards for those willing to invest the required effort. The country’s internet infrastructure is rapidly establishing itself, and a new generation are finding themselves with both the money and time to invest in games.

“I believe that the industry here is pretty young, so there hasn’t been enough time for Brazilian studios to develop a particular strength,” admits Werther Azevedo, design director at Rio de Janeiro studio Nano Games.

“What I can say is that our workforce is known to be versatile across the digital media industry. We tend to be generalists by trade, and I think this is a trait that lends itself well to the games industry. Brazilians are known for providing creative solutions to hard problems.”

CONNECTED PEOPLE
Others, however, point out that Brazil is beginning to develop strengths and specialities, largely thanks to the aforementioned dawn of new levels of robust web connectivity.

“Due to the large increase in the areas of internet technology and smartphones, the majority of independent studios are opting to invest in games for those platforms,” offers Fernando Pepe Barbalho Pereira of S?o Paulo’s Mayness Studios.

“There is also a great demand for advertising games on these platforms, especially for social networks – such as Facebook – and mobiles.”

“Brazil has, indeed, been doing extremely well lately, mostly due to the massive improvements in the infrastructure, which brings along a huge growth rate of connected households,” adds Julian Migura of games publishing and localisation giant UOL BoaCompra.

“But, even with the amazing number of already close to 40 million gamers across the country, only 50 per cent are connected to the internet at this point, which means there’s a lot of further growth to be expected in the coming years.”

The emphasis there is on expectation, rather than the numbers waiting for sturdy web connections. Brazil’s glass may be half empty in that regard, but the industry is collectively focusing on filling it to the brim.

Social and mobile studios are opening their doors across the region – and in neighbouring Latin American countries – at an astounding rate, and unanimously there is interest in building connected gaming experiences.

But why now? Brazil’s larger cities have enjoyed many years connected to the world through the internet, and as a creative nation the country’s populace are well regarded.

A TAXING ISSUE

The fact is, for a long time Brazil’s games makers have had it tough, and only now are core problems being overcome. One problem comes up again and again is tax, and this is a huge challenge for the technology industries in the country, as Pereira explains.

“Unfortunately in Brazil we have an excessive amount of taxes, especially for games and related services. Besides taxes, investors are not so confident to invest in a market that was stagnant during prior periods and also the unstable economy.”

Developments in the international market, in relation to the stabilisation of the Brazilian economy, have helped to improve the things, but pressure remains on the Government to recognise the industry’s potential.

“We still face high taxation from the government,” says Azevedo. “Labour laws in Brazil are pretty heavy for the entrepreneur. Whenever we hire new personnel, we must pay their salary, plus 100 per cent in tax. This makes our costs higher than countries such as Canada, US or Australia.”

He reveals that there is some talk of incentives from the Government, but points to a painfully slow system and “a grave corruption problem” that is serving to dash the hopes of those looking for help from the country’s authorities.

And there’s been another problem for Brazilian developers, and one too many from elsewhere can empathise with.

“In the past we had piracy as a big problem, and also products that were brought to Brazil in an illegal way,” states Brazil Games Show director Marcelo Tavares, who quickly moves the conversation to more positive matters.

“Nowadays, piracy is decreasing and the companies are starting news offices and factories in Brazil. On the other side, the economy in all sectors is growing and international events like the World Cup Finals and the Olympic Games are a great example of the growth here.”

MOVING FORWARD

By all accounts Tavares is right to be positive, for while it’s easy to dwell on the troubled past of Brazil’s games industry, looking forward things look very good indeed.

“Brazil today is what Turkey was like maybe two or three years ago,” offers Pascal Zuta, CEO of the European wing of games portal host Aeria Games, which counts a Brazilian office as its most recent new operation.

“There was a rush to serve Turkey when that market was exploding, and now that is happening in Brazil, but on a larger scale.”

Part of the reason for the move to embrace Brazil’s blossoming games industry stems from a reason it’s hard to be sceptical about, for the country has seized the opportunity provided by affordable development tools.

Games creation might not yet be the preserve of the layman, but affordable, accessible development software has swept in to save the South American nation from its woes about taxes and piracy.

“I believe games are just easier to make now,” insists Rafael Hrasko, business director at Vitória-based studio Interama. “When technology is not a problem anymore, there’s only lack of creativity holding you back. And creativity is something Brazilians have a bountiful amount of.

“Plus, there’s digital distribution, making it easier to survive without a big publisher to release your game in the market. Now all you have to do is have a link and an impressive marketing campaign.”

Some might accuse Hrasko of naivety, but what he is demonstrating is a spirit that permeates all of Brazil’s development scene. With so many bigger problems apparently on the wane, issues like online publishing and discoverability seem like lesser concerns, and Brazil is ready to tackle them.

Hrasko and others also state that those developers that left Brazil for the infamous brain drains, like Canada, are now returning home, tempted by the new found positivity and wealth of opportunities.

But it isn’t just homegrown talent moved far from home that is eyeing Brazil’s industry. Electronics and development giants like SCEA are also moving in on Brazil.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

“From SCEA’s perspective, what we are excited about is the fact that we can now ship development equipment into most of the countries from Mexico all the way to Chile,” says Bruno Matzdorf, resource development program manager at SCEA’s Developer Services and Support Group, which sees opportunity across Latin America, and launched its PlayStation 3 in the region two years ago.

“This means that more developers will now have the opportunity to show the world what they can do on the PlayStation consoles. The ability to ship development hardware has been quite a challenge, but we knew we had to do this in order to adequately seed developers, and allow for them to reach their console potential.”

With the biggest the games companies in the world mobilising their development hardware for Brazil’s benefit, it is clear something special is taking place there.

Elsewhere, it is free-to-play that seems to cause the most excitement among the Brazilian developers striving to make a global impact with their games.

“I think the free-to-play model is tailor-made for Brazilian audiences,” says Azevedo. “Piracy has always been a problem in Brazil, not only in games, but in the music and movie industries as well.

“Brazilians like to play for free, and they are culturally inclined to get digital goods for free. So I think that a model like free-to-play, where there’s no barrier to try the game and get hooked to it, is a good match for the Brazilian audience.”

WORKING IT OUT
For its games industry to thrive, Brazil, like anywhere, needs a workforce that is both numerous and skilled, and that remains a constant challenge.

But its problem in this regard is an atypical one. The talent is there, and in abundant volumes, but the industry’s relatively small size in terms of available jobs means it is not always easy to attract staff.

“Our local institutions provide good graduates in the art and design area, but not so much in the development area,” says Azevedo of Nano Games, which has produced mobile games based on TV series by Nickelodeon and MTV.

He later adds: “Our industry is [somewhat] small to meet the hundreds of graduates interested in games every year, so I’d say overseas recruiters will likely find passionate, hardworking people, eager to work in their games industry.”

And so it is that many locally trained prospective games makers find themselves employed overseas, or, as UOL BoaCompra’s Migura points out, in Brazil’s other flourishing technology industries.

“It’s very hard to find qualified staff in Brazil, especially for web games, as you’re competing with media and internet companies that are usually able to pay higher wages and are ‘battling’ for the staff,” he says. “Many people started to outsource development work to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain or the US, or are thinking about doing so.”

Others, however, believe that Brazil’s local talent pool is actually a little lacking in terms of the games industry’s needs, and according to Mayness Studios’ Pereira, educational institutes in the nation could do more.

“It is not easy to find qualified workers in Brazil for this specific market.” He says. “Unfortunately the amount of developers is growing at a slower level when compared to the internal market.”

“Education is a problem in every sector, mostly because talented people are usually working for the government or in the industry already, not teaching,” says Interama’s Hrasko in agreement. “Of course, there are some great schools with outstanding professors here, but they are exception, not the rule.”

GRAND PLANS

But there is a sense that the market can continue to grow, which will in turn see issues around staffing fall by the wayside as the industry becomes more attractive, resulting in games that are more intricate, globally significant and, ultimately, profitable.

“It is hard to make money in Brazil, and it took us a long time, so you need to put a lot of effort in,” suggests Aeria’s Zuta. “There are many obstacles for publishers there, due to the tax difficulties, the young infrastructure, and the complexity of the payment models there.

“That’s the case with much of Latin America, but if you can overcome these obstacles, the rewards in the region are huge, and there are communities  ready to be grown, as the competition isn’t as strong in Brazil as it is elsewhere.”

Azevedo, puts the nation’s challenges into prespective, reminding us that, while Brazil hosts some of the best socialising in the world, there’s a hard working attitude that should see the emerging games business prosper.

“Although Brazil may be viewed internationally as a place where everyone likes to party all the time, we are very hardworking people,” he states.

“Our company has been fighting to stay alive against all adversities for more than five years, and we are still running strong, as are other Brazilian companies.”

If he is to be believed, expect to hear a lot more about Brazil’s development scene from us in the coming years.（source：develop-online）