Gamescom LATAM CEO Gustavo Steinberg Unveils 2025’s Evolution and Secrets

by

Every year, Europe‘s biggest annual gaming event, Gamescom, showcases the thriving industry. In 2024, a South American counterpart, named Gamescom LATAM, in collaboration with the Brazil Indie Games Festival (BIG), made its first appearance and attracted an astonishing 335,000 attendees, setting a new record. This year, enthusiasts, celebrities, and innovators are gathering in São Paulo, Brazil to immerse themselves in the global gaming scene, with a focus on both local and international gaming experiences.

At this year’s Gamescom LATAM event, Game Rant had the opportunity to sit down with CEO Gustavo Steinberg for an enlightening discussion about the changing nature of the showcase. Steinberg shared insights on the diverse aspects involved in organizing and marketing Gamescom LATAM, the nuances between regional markets and preferences, and how he strikes a balance to deliver an exceptional event for everyone involved. For the sake of clarity and conciseness, this interview has been condensed.

Gamescom LATAM CEO Gustavo Steinberg Talks About His Role and Organizing 2025’s Event

Q: To kick things off, could you tell us about your day-to-day as CEO of Gamescom LATAM?

Essentially, our task involves communicating with publishers, studios, sponsors, and devising strategies to effectively meet multiple objectives. We maintain a business aspect to keep us operational, which was our initial starting point as a B2B event. Additionally, we aim to cultivate the gaming industry in this region by persuading international gaming events that game development thrives here in South America.

Since 2022, I’ve found my interactions with larger publishers to be an educational journey. Initially, I assumed these relationships would differ significantly from those with smaller studios. However, upon reflection, it appears that everyone shares the common goal of fostering regional development, although the challenges and complexity are distinct. We were also bought by a larger company in 2022, which has introduced internal politics due to an increased number of partners.

Additionally, I must mention a fresh perspective for me – catering to the public audience. Unlike my previous experience in B2B and development, this is new territory. Moreover, to continue our growth, we provide training on game development, which encourages the emergence of more studios and qualified professionals. Essentially, it’s a blend of these elements.

Q: Could you talk a little bit about organizing this year’s event?

Reframing the statement: This feels like starting a fresh project all over again. While we were familiar with the task, it’s transformed into something entirely new. I’m thrilled, and I believe others might concur, as I find the space significantly improved – it’s more spacious. The venue is under the same management company. When we first inked our deal with them, I was eager to work here, but at that time, it was being thoroughly rebuilt. They demolished the old structure and constructed a brand-new, contemporary one. There are only a few columns, which is music to an event organizer’s ears because it means less hassle!

The team did something else that I found particularly impressive. We expanded our original BIG Festival into various sections throughout the entire event. Our aim was twofold: to generate more buzz for indie games since they’re all independently produced, and to help visitors grasp what these games are about. To achieve this, we provided explanations on each island for categories such as best art, narrative, and gameplay. This allows attendees to follow a track and explore different categories, gaining insight into the development process. I believe this addition enhances the overall experience.

How Gamescom LATAM 2025 Redesigned the Experience and Expanded its Presence

Question: What changes or enhancements have been made in this year’s version of Gamescom LATAM compared to last year’s event?

Last year, I noticed an idea while observing the festival layout: expanding the event across the exhibition area. This was particularly beneficial for enthusiasts of indie games as everything related was conveniently grouped together. However, some visitors who weren’t specifically seeking these games found it confusing and moved on because they didn’t recognize any familiar titles in the area. We made improvements to address this issue by making it clearer and more accessible for everyone, ensuring a better overall experience.

Previously mentioned, we’re moving to a fresh location for our upcoming event, which brings about the need to rethink our layout. We ponder over questions like, “Where should everything be placed? How can we effectively divide the spaces?” This is due to a variety of sections that we curate ourselves, such as artist zones, cosplay lounges, and creators’ lounges. However, there are some innovations in the mix, like the creators’ stage, which has seen great success. We’ve drawn inspiration for this from our other event, CCXP, by adopting a similar design where people sit on the floor or stand, and the stage is lower to facilitate interaction with popular influencers. I believe it has been quite effective. It’s likely that we will expand this feature even more in the coming year.

Previously, we had two distinct sections and a question arose about their main distinctions. I replied, “While there is some curation difference, it’s not substantial enough to set them apart.” Therefore, we decided to merge all sections into one large stage. This includes additional areas for influencers, new game announcements, and more. During the weekend, this becomes a single, undivided stage. We are consistently working on enhancing various aspects of our event. For instance, in the B2B sector, we’ve combined our own matchmaking tool with the main Gamescom business platform. This means that when you register for our event, you’re automatically registered for Gamescom as well, among other improvements.

For the first time ever, our game is gracing Steam for an extended 72-hour run on the Latin American front page! That’s three whole days, which feels pretty awesome if you ask me as a gamer. Instead of just highlighting the big guns from the main event, we’ve decided to showcase all the PC games that are making a splash this time around. We’ve even organized them neatly into categories, each with its own banner on the homepage, adding a nice touch to the whole event. I believe everyone involved is pretty thrilled about it!

We’ve teamed up with the Future Games Show and the Latin American Games Showcase, and I can’t wait to check out the results! With numerous media partners on board, this event is expected to have a truly global reach. Unlike last year, we’re changing things up – instead of hosting it in Portuguese while translating simultaneously to English, we’ve decided to go global by hosting everything in English. To cater to our international media partners, we will provide simultaneous translations into Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese. I think this multi-language approach could be quite exciting, and the trailers look fantastic!

Gamescom LATAM 2025 Strives for Accessibility and Environmental Friendliness

Question: Does Gamescom LATAM, like the one held at Koelnmesse in Germany, prioritize environmental concerns just as much?

Absolutely! From day one, we’ve been committed to recycling due to events like these producing an overwhelming amount of waste. This year, we’re teaming up with a long-standing NGO to protect the Atlantic Forest. While it may not be as famous as the Amazon, it’s suffered 90% destruction and once covered the entire city of São Paulo. When the Portuguese first arrived, they found this forest stretching along the coast. Although it’s now by the coast, I believe our event should support the local environment, which is why we chose to collaborate with this NGO. They do great work for a worthy cause.

We collaborate with two NGOs, including AbleGamers, focused on game accessibility. Our partnership with them spans over a significant period. They affirm, and I concur, that we host the most accessible gaming event globally. Although it’s challenging to encompass everything, we offer sign language and audio descriptions for numerous talks and show segments. We provide a tactile map, ensuring mobility accessibility throughout the venue. It’s not just about the venue itself; we ensure accessibility extends to facilities like restrooms, with ramps leading to stages. Our primary goal is to ensure all participants can participate comfortably.

Gamescom LATAM CEO On His Favorite Games and the Latin American Market’s Place in the Industry

Q: What are some of your favorite games that are here?

A: I never keep quiet about it. I have to admire them all! [laughs] From a professional perspective, it’s fantastic to see major publishers appearing more frequently. Supercell informed me that their first independent booth outside the US and Finland is here. Gravity is making its debut, and we have a collaboration with Xbox, while Bethesda has a standalone booth. Roblox has been around for a while now, and Epic and Nintendo are also present.

In this version, I’ve used more descriptive language to express the speaker’s admiration for the industry developments, added clarity to some technical terms (standalone booth, independent booth), and made minor adjustments to improve readability.

One great advantage of Steam is that they built their own B2B booth there. This makes sense since they don’t have a strong presence in this area. It’s a smart move as it allows them to gather contact details from all the developers eager to connect with them, because the majority of the games developed here are for PC platforms.

As a passionate admirer, I’ve found myself engaged in numerous conversations with publishers, and one region that consistently captures everyone’s attention is Latin America. From my point of view, what sets the Latin American market apart as both significant and unique?

Two perspectives need to be considered here. Firstly, the player base has grown significantly, surpassing the North American gaming market with around 350 million players compared to 280 million in North America. However, it’s important to note that purchasing power in North America is considerably greater due to economic factors. Despite this, both Europe and North America are approaching saturation, which leads us to question where the next growth opportunity lies. Asia presents some limitations, making it a likely candidate for expansion, although this has been a long-standing goal that many may not fully appreciate.

It appears that development studios and publishers are gradually acknowledging the Western influence in our culture, even though we may not technically be classified as such. We possess a unique blend of Western values, tastes, and perspectives, which is vital for producing captivating new content that resonates with audiences. Our strategic location between the American and European time zones, coupled with a favorable exchange rate and an abundance of creativity, makes us an attractive destination for those eager to create. The success of this show underscores the passion and talent of professionals here, and it’s exciting to see that some games showcased at ID@Xbox booth were selected from here last year, indicating that our contributions are being recognized. This trend is on the rise and will continue to grow stronger.

A: To elaborate further, could you tell me your thoughts on the gaming industry in relation to Latin America as a collective region, and how they are contributing to the global stage?

We aim to be a key player in game development, though not literally the center because it’s quite challenging given our lack of major publishers here. I believe this presents an opportunity for both sides – publishers can tap into local talent, while our creators can benefit from partnerships and investments abroad. To put it straightforwardly, if they don’t join us, they’re potentially missing out on a good investment opportunity. It’s as clear-cut as that.

A: Do you have any additional comments regarding Gamescom overall, the event specifically, or Latin America in particular that you’d like to share?

You might believe that you’ll find developers similar to those found globally in this place, but that’s a misconception. They usually don’t come here due to costs. On the contrary, an increasing number of foreigners are arriving. If you haven’t already, you should consider visiting as it could offer unique opportunities.

[END]

Read More

2025-05-03 22:49