Gamescom Latam Big Festival awards kick off with lifetime award for Shu Yoshida

The Gamescom Latam Big Festival 2025 began in Sao Paulo, Brazil with a lifetime achievement award for Shu Yoshida, a key figure in supporting indie games at Sony’s PlayStation. Several outstanding games were acknowledged, including Nine Sols from Red Candle Games and Grizzly Man from LCB Game Studio.

Rodrigo Terra, CEO of Abram Games, the Brazilian game association, presented the award to Yoshidain Sao Paulo, Brazil. Yoshida left late last year after 31 years at Sony, where he held jobs such as head of Sony Interactive Entertainment Studios at Sony PlayStation.

The gamescom latam BIG Festival sponsored by Banco do Brasil announced the winners from the first night of the largest video game awards ceremony in Latin America. Every year, over 100 of the world’s most innovative and promising games are showcased, offering the public a unique opportunity to try them out firsthand. On this first awards night, 16 categories were presented, with winners selected by a jury panel of 49 members. The BIG Festival sponsored by Banco do Brasil returns on June 4 with additional award announcements and tributes.

Legendary game industry figure Shuhei Yoshida, former Head of Indies at Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios and leader of the PlayStation Indies program, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of impact and transformation of the global gaming industry.

With a sense of anticipation in the air, nominees gathered en masse to hear the results. Cheerful fans and coordinated outfits filled the audience at the gamescom latam stage sponsored by Kabum! to celebrate the winners.

During the live broadcast, host Maurício Somenszari shared a heartfelt message: “We truly hope this award becomes a boost for these studios. That is the soul of this ceremony.”

See the winners of the main categories below:

Game of the Year, along with the R$5,000 prize, went to Nine Sols, a hand-drawn 2D action-platformer rich in storytelling, featuring Sekiro-inspired deflection-based combat.

Best Game: Latin America was awarded to Grizzly Man, developed by LCB Game Studio.

Best Game: Brazil went to Mullet MadJack, developed by Hammer 95 Studios and published by Epopeia Games. The developers received the award in person and thanked their fans for the support that kept them going.

Best Casual Game was awarded to Paper Trail, from Newfangled Games.

Best Art went to Naiad, created and published by HiWarp.

Best Narrative was awarded to Neva, developed by Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital.

Best Gameplay went to Animal Well, developed by Shared Memory and published by Bigmode.

Innovation Award went to Sol Cesto, developed by Geraud Zucchini & Chariospirales and published by Goblinz Publishing.

Best Mobile Game was Levil Devil, by Unept, LLC.

Best Multiplayer Game was Bang Bang Barrage, developed by Monkey Bread and published by Spiral Up Games.

“Brazil is making excellent games,” said the winner.

gamescom latam runs through Sunday (June 4) at Distrito Anhembi, featuring the very best and latest in the world of gaming, with a full schedule of attractions, talks, competitions, and more.