A delegation of 7 Brazilian games companies will be attending XDS 2017, in Vancouver, Canada this year. The External Development Summit takes place September 6-8, and is the only event dedicated to companies selling or buying outsourced work for game and software development. The action is promoted by the international program of the Brazilian Game Developers Export Program, an initiative created by the Brazilian Game Developers Association (Abragames) and Apex-Brasil (the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). The Brazilian developers will network with potential partners, prospect new opportunities and offer their services to top companies in the global industry.
Kokku, from Pernambuco (Brazil), in the market for 6 years, already has an impressive track record: they are responsible for the 3D artwork of several creatures and robots for Horizon Zero Down, considered one of the most beautiful games ever made. Thiago de Freitas, Kokku’s CEO, said they landed this job thanks to their positioning on the international market.
“Before working with Guerrilla Games, we prepared ourselves by attending several international events through Abragames’ and BGD’s international programs; it is a long-term investment that can only be possible through a vast network of contacts and understanding what the market’s demands are.”
Lumentech, from the small state of Sergipe in Brazil, also recognizes the importance of international events for independent developers. It was through them that they got the first contact that led to a work for hire for Canadian company LDC Studios to develop HEMPIRE, the marijuana farm simulator for mobile with over 1 million players. “At first it was a work-for-hire, but today we have shares of the profits. The support from BGD Project was crucial for us in signing this contract,” said CEO Tiago Melo.
“We are thrilled to have the ABRAGAMES delegation supported by Apex-Brasil returning to XDS in Vancouver to showcase the talent of their many companies” said Chris Wren, Chair of the XDS Advisory Committee. “We are elated by the number of companies arriving from Brazil, which will help to create awareness of their capabilities, and allow exploration of new business opportunities with international developers and publishers. We anticipate this will contribute to the overall growth of the games industry in Brazil!”
The next event for these companies’ international schedule will be Game Connection Europe, which is taking place in Paris, France, from November 1-3, 2017. Executives of BIG Festival, the largest independent festival in Latin America and the third largest in the world, will be accompanying the developers to network and find potential guests, speakers, keynotes and buyers to bring to the 2018 edition of BIG.
A full list of businesses attending XDS 2017 Canada can be found below.
XDS 2017 Guest Devs
Arcolabs
Located in Rio de Janeiro, Arcolabs is specialized in children’s games, and will attend XDS to network, find potential IPs within this segment, and to offer external development services for kids games;
The developers of GUTS, an ultra-violent fighting game, will attend XDS 2017 as buyers, to find suppliers to add to their Lean Development System, designed to create high value games much faster;
Is a 360 consultancy with a unique market view: it’s a disruptive startup that helps games studios and industry related companies to achieve their business goals worldwide;
This 15-year old company is an animation studio, and school, that will be going to XDS to network and offer their animation services to other attending businesses;
Known for its exquisite work on PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn, for Guerrilla Games, Kokku is an External Development company located in northeastern Brazil. They’ll attend XDS to offer outsourcing services, work for hire, and to promote their external development team, experts in concept art, illustration, 3D Art, UI/UX and Coding (UE4 included);
Founded in 2004, and doing work for hire since 2007, Lumentech developed the massive mobile hit HEMPIRE for LDC Studios from Canada. At XDS 2017, they’ll prospect potential partners, new projects, offer their work for hire services, and expand their network;
A game development studio founded in 2005, specialized in external development, with a track record of developing, co-producing and operating games for Bandai Namco, DeNA, Gamblit and with Mightyplay for Disney, SeaWorld and Zynga. They are in search of new clients and will expand their service offers for live operations.
