WALLONIA IS LAND OF VIDEO GAME

Brazilian Gaming Studio opens in Wallonia to benefit from EU Gaming Ecosystem

Brazilian gaming studio Mito Games today stands on two giant feet following the opening of a European development office in Belgium, the company will announce at Gamescom 2023.

Brazil is one of the fastest-growing games markets in Latin America with more than 1000 video game development studios. Brazilians’ passion for games and gaming content fuels the country’s increasing year-over-year game revenues, ranking at number 10 in the world with total revenues of over 1.3bn USD.

The European Commission stated that “The EU accounts for one third of the overall market value in the global video game market (USD 249.55 billion in 2022) and displays a high growth rate compared to other economic sectors. As home to some of the largest and well-known game publishers and game studios, the EU produces prominent video games which influence the cultural scene around the globe.”

Brazil’s digitalization programs spur the country on a fast track towards a digital future and provide a strong incentive for their local gaming studios’ international expansion programs. Mito Games, established in 2016 and based in Vitória – Espírito Santo state in Brazil visited European countries several times before settling in Wallonia, Belgium. Rafael Texeira, managing director Mito Games said: “The vast majority of Brazilians (80%) are Game Enthusiasts! We are thrilled today to be offering games and gamification as educational solutions for customised or pre-made projects from Europe in Europe built on a strong track record in Brazil.”

Rafael Texeira said that the Meet & Build, the regional game dev conference and business meetings organised by WALGA in Wallonia and the new Tax Shelter extended to video games convinced the company to open up their European office in Charleroi, Belgium: “We love the vibrant ecosystem here and the support of the Export agency AWEX made us feel very welcome,” Texeira said, adding that the central location of Wallonia was helpful to enter major gaming markets such as France, Germany and the UK, all neighbouring Belgium.

Globally, the industry is suffering from a shortage of skilled and experienced workers capable of handling ambitious projects. Brazil lack of specialised schools or training courses for game developers, whereas Wallonia offers a wide range of high-quality training to produce talented young people to manage projects, budgets and teams, thanks to the new Master Degree course that opened in 2022.

How does it Work?

The Belgian Tax Shelter is a government-approved tax incentive designed to encourage the production of gaming productions in Belgium. The system is open to Belgian productions as well as international co-productions with Belgium that meet certain criteria.