Brazilian Indies Write Open Letter and Demand More Support and Appreciation

Are Brazilian indie developers being left behind in the development of gamescom latam? In an open letter, numerous devs complain about high prices, lack of support and appreciation and formulate suggestions for improvement.

There is rumour in the Brazilian indie dev scene. Brazilian indie developers have published an open letter via the Game Dev Unidos organisation in which they criticise gamescom latam of not supporting and valuing the local scene enough. The open letter, which was distributed as a Google Doc via social media and other channels, was signed by several hundred people, including both developers and supporters who do not work as developers.

The criticism is directed at various points, which are at least partly due to the growth and further development of the trade fair under the gamescom latam brand. The open letter mentions the 'exorbitant stand prices', fees for  equipment such as TVs or power cables, or the lack of stand personnel to support indies, the lack of food or travel allowances or the lack of chairs or break areas. According to the authors of the letter, this does not meet the standard of other international games events that claim to support the local industry.

At least some of the accusations, such as the increased stand costs or the fees for rental furniture and equipment, can probably be applied to any other trade fair. Especially as the authors repeatedly refer in their letter to the original ‘Brazil's Independent Games Festival’, from which the acronym BIG Festival emerged, which today stands for Best International Festival and represents the core of gamescom latam. In fact, growth and internationalisation are leading to a noticeable increase in costs and therefore prices for exhibitors at almost all trade fairs.

However, some points in the open letter are at least worth considering, especially those who relate to the Panorama Brasil special area, which is primarily concerned with showcasing the Brazilian scene. Especially as gamescom latam also receives public funding, which the Brazilian government wants to use to strengthen the local games industry.

In fact, the authors have formulated a total of 12 suggestions as to what could be done better, underlining the fact that they are interested in the constructive further development of gamescom latam and not in one-sided criticism. Many of the suggestions relate to the points of criticism mentioned above, such as food vouchers for exhibitors in the Panorama Brazil area, free monitors or travel allowances for those selected to take part. The issue of stand personnel also relates to Panorama Brazil. Here, it was mainly about replacements for the devs for toilet or meal breaks, especially as there were apparently also penalties for anyone who left the booth, which would indeed be a very restrictive regulation.

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