From October 11th to the 15th, over 328 thousand gamers were able to enjoy many games that were not even released, as well as meet dozens of international guests; besides other attractions, the largest gaming conference in Latin America had eSports championships, shows with international musicians, thousands of activities across the conference, and more.
São Paulo, October 25th, 2023 – Visitors of the 14th edition of Brasil Game Show can attest that they lived the game during the five days of the event. From October 11th to the 15th, at the Expo Center Norte, in São Paulo, the largest gaming conference in Latin America established a new record of attendance, with 328,503 people, growing in many other areas as well, such as the attractions, with three times the number of in-development games for visitors to play, and four times the number of international guests, compared to BGS 2022.
Among hundreds of attractions, visitors could also watch the concerts of the Sonic Symphony – the only ones in Latin America in 2023 – and the Video Game Orchestra, get to know icons from the games industry in Meet & Greet sessions and find over 6,500 accredited influencers. The people attending could also cheer for their teams and icons in eSports championships, besides participating in many activities, such as daily cosplay competitions on the official Cosplay Bauducco stage, and BGS Talks Record TV panels.
“The records broken during the 2023 edition showed that Brasil Game Show is an event that, with the help of every sponsor, partner, and player in the industry, gets stronger and reinvents itself every year,” says the founder and CEO of Brasil Game Show, Marcelo Tavares. “We seek to always offer a structure that increases the passion of gamers for games every year, opening doors, and making dreams come true for thousands of people who love games. It was an unforgettable edition, and we are already counting down for the 2024 one, which will happen between October 9th and the 13th.”
Edition Full of Broken Records
Brasil Game Show keeps growing and reinventing itself. That can be proven by a simple comparison with the 2022 edition, which was already very expressive in numbers. Reiterating the importance of the conference for the industry and visitors, the aspects that had the most growth in absolute numbers were:
Attendance: the 14th edition had the biggest number of people attending in the history of the event, adding up visitors who got their tickets, accredited ones, and the ones with courtesy entries. There were 328,503 people in 2023, compared to 327,678 in 2022, when BGS was seven days long, and, up until that point, was the edition with the most attendance in the conference’s history.
In-development Titles: The number of games in development available to be tested was tripled compared to 2022. In 2023, 12 AAA titles could be tested before arriving in the stores.
International Guests: BGS never before had so many international stars from the world of games in a single edition. 24 guests came from abroad, which resulted in a number four times bigger than the previous edition.
Food Donation: A tradition in the largest gaming conference in Latin America, non-perishable food donations at the entrance of the conference paid off half of a full ticket. The amount of donations in 2023 was the largest in history, with 47 tons, all fully delivered to two non-governmental organizations: Casa de David, and Casas André Luiz. In 2022, a little more than 46 tons were donated.
Accredited Journalists and Influencers: In 2022, we had 7,900 accredited journalists and influencers. In 2023, the press coverage was made by over 2,350 journalists and 6,580 influencers, totalizing 8,930 participants on the coverage of the event for the press and social media. For the first time, the Lounge Insider, destined for content creators with over one million subscribers, was made available for the event, getting over 900 guests from over 550 channels/profiles.
Concerts: Brasil Game Show 2022 had one concert of the Video Game Orchestra, a supergroup led by Shota Nakama, who reimagines famous tracks from the history of games as rock n’ roll, as well as the premiere of the world tour of the Sonic Symphony, which went all over the world with a full musical tribute to the 30 years of the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise. In 2023, every day open to the public had concerts (the 12th and the 13th with the Video Game Orchestra, and the 14th and 15th with the Sonic Symphony, the only concerts from it in Latin America in 2023), with the illustrious presence of Jun Senoue, one of the composers for tracks in the Sonic franchise who affected the lives of gamers.
Cosplayers: BGS is a single opportunity for cosplayers from all over Brazil to show the result of their customization art from anime, games, series, movies, and historical icons. In 2023, 2,565 amateur and professional cosplayers were accredited to show to the conference their creations and performances, which could be seen all over the conference and on the Bauducco stages, where the official cosplay contests of the event were done.
BGS Store: The 2023 edition had an official BGS megastore, twice the size of the 2022 one, and selling three times more than the previous year. Between the products available on the 14th edition were T-shirts, cups, straps, pins, and various other mementos from the largest gaming conference in Latin America. The BGS Store is the result of a partnership between the event and Rank1, which can also be virtually found by clicking here.
Best result of attending visitors (including visitors who purchased a ticket, accredited ones, and the ones with courtesy entries).
Live the Game
The slogan of this year’s edition invited players to have immersive experiences and also worked as a bond to strengthen the relationship between players and videogames, as well as everything involved in this universe. Over 230 titles were available daily for fans to test, between new AAA titles, indie games, arcades, immersive experiences, and recently released titles, such as Assassin’s Creed Mirage, EA Sports FC 24, Pikmin 4, and Mortal Kombat 1.
Besides them, visitors could try out dozens of games still in development, such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Persona 3 Reload, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Sonic Superstars, Zenless Zone Zero, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, The Division Resurgence, Rainbow Six Mobile, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
All these titles were available to be played on many platforms, such as PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PCs, mobile devices, simulators, and VR glasses.
The Main Brazilian Influencers
Thousands of content creators went to this year’s Brasil Game Show, and over 200 of them went up the stage in different booths to interact with fans. Besides promoting contests, giving gifts, leading brand activities, and moderating panels, these celebrities that mobilize millions of people on social media also enjoyed the conference, so they could be closer to their followers.
Monster Energy BGS Esports
The main stage of the event, the Monster Energy BGS Esports arena, received the eSports competitions and musical performances of this year’s edition. On the opening day, the Flamengo eSports team got an imposing victory against F99 Esports in the championship “Trocação de Frifas,” for Free Fire. On the second day, the FURIA team stood as champions of the female CS:GO championship. On the first official Mortal Kombat 1 championship, Zeeus used his mighty Raiden to fight back and defeat Killerxinok with an exciting 3-1 that made the audience stand in the Monster Energy BGS Arena. Lastly, the male super team of FURIA got on stage on Sunday to get their second trophy, winning W7M Esports by 2-0 in the male CS:GO championship. The second match was neck-to-neck, ending with a 19-17 score during extra time.
10/11 – “Trocação de Frifas” Championship, Free Fire – Flamengo MDL (2-0 versus F99 Esports)
10/12 – Monster Energy BGS Esports Female CS:GO – FURIA (2-0 versus Fluxo)
10/13 – Mortal Kombat 1 Championship – Zeeus (3-1 versus Killerxinok)
10/14 and 10/15 – Monster Energy BGS Esports Male CS:GO – FURIA (2-0 versus W7M Esports)
The tournaments played at the Monster Energy BGS Esports arena were sponsored by Monster Energy, Norton, Cup Noodles, Rank1, and Agon by AOC, besides Acer, the official PC for the Monster Energy BGS Esports Arena.
eSports Teams All Over
eSports teams that regularly win national and international titles in many disciplines brought their players to compete and be closer to their fans.
FURIA was one of them. The team brought to the event their famous full line-up of CS:GO to compete at the Monster Energy BGS Arena and won both trophies: The male and female championships. Other teams such as Team Liquid, PaiN Gaming, LOUD, Fluxo, and Flamengo esports also participated in the conference, had showmatches, and promoted other exciting activities next to the audience.
BGS Arcade Even Bigger
The BGS Arcade arena had over 100 game machines. The space was sponsored by Game Station, a specialized company for indoor parks all over Brazil. In there, visitors could remember classic titles, such as Pong and pinball machines, and try out new experiences in VR in themed equipment.
In addition to strength measuring machines, photo booths, and immersive games thematized with everyone’s favorite series, movies, and comics, the space also made available two roller coasters in VR that made the conference’s visitors live unique emotions in real life.
With guidance based on the inclusion of all gamers, Game Station also took an exclusive space to meet the sensory and health needs of people with autism and ASDs. This part had a massage area, resting seats, low light machines, identification strings, and other mechanisms that show that gamer culture is available to all people who want to enjoy the magic of games.
Attendance of Gaming, Tech, and Retail Brands
Besides development studios and publishers for important titles such as Nintendo, Ubisoft, HoYoverse, SEGA, EA, Warner Bros. Games, Garena, Activision, Blizzard, ESTsoft, and GSC Game World, the conference was also attended by companies that lead many segments of the market of technological and peripheral equipment. Among them were Samsung, Redragon, Cougar, HyperX, Logitech, LG Alienware, Razer, Force One, Acer, Snapdragon, AMD, ELG, Intel, Lenovo, Kings Simuladores, Smile One, and DXRacer, the official chair of BGS23. All of them brought some of their recent releases, with advanced tech to be tested and purchased by gamers who wanted to upgrade their set-ups.
Another addition of the 14th edition was the strengthening of specialized retail brands, such as Kalunga, KaBuM!, PCyes, and Pichau, which brought to the conference big Meet & Greet booths, awards, and announcements that caught the attention of thousands of Expo Center Norte visitors.
WinZO Games, Huawei App Gallery, and Taiwan Excellence showed the interest of different technological centers around the world, such as India, China, and Taiwan, in Brazil, one of the largest consumer markets on the planet –
which gets bigger every year.
Besides endemic brands, BGS had the participation of brands such as O Boticário, Bauducco, Cup Noodles, Insider Store, Bozzano, Universal Pictures, Monster, Estrela Bet, SBT, and Banco do Brasil.
JBL, which adds quality and functionality to audio solutions, was the official sponsor for BGS Game Music, which had big concerts from the Video Game Orchestra and the Sonic Symphony performed at the event.
BGS Conference
This year’s Brasil Game Show was also the first edition of the BGS Conference, a conference where many important brands of the gaming universe got to the stage of the Monster Energy BGS Arena to reveal information about releases in games, movies, series, gamer peripherals, appliances, and more.
Among the companies that introduced their new products were Good Dog, ESTsoft, Ubisoft, TCL, Logitech, Nuuvem, WinZO Games, SEGA, Universal Pictures, Game Connection, Warner Bros. Games, Garena, and LG.
International and Musical Attractions
The 2023 edition of BGS was also a highlight due to the increase in international guests, which was four times the number of guests from the previous year. Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris creator, and Nolan Bushnell, Atari’s founder, were two of the industry legends who attended. Besides them, Takashi Iizuka, Naoki Yoshida, Koji Fox, Chance Glasco, and Ryota Niitsuma are other celebrities who helped create games that have a huge number of fans all over the world and were in São Paulo next to Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno, Kenny James, Jun Senoue, and Shota Nakama – artists who, with their faces, voices, and instruments, showed their love for games.
Shota and Jun performed at the BGS main stage every day open to the public. There were two concerts of the Video Game Orchestra, a show that reimagines gaming tracks loved by fans in the rock n’ roll genre, and two of the Sonic Symphony, which pays tribute to the beloved Sonic franchise.
Other international guests brought to Brazil by exhibitors were Jean-Luc Sala, Artistic Director of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the Brazilian Fabiano Vassao, UI Art Director of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Mounir Radi, Game Director of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Justin Swan, Creative Director of Rainbow Six Mobile, and the also Brazilian Fabricio Mombelli, Live Operations Director of The Division Resurgence. And the Mexican influencers Monster Bin3r, Kim Bonilla, Mym Tum, who, together, have over four million followers, came to the event through Monster.
Annually, Brasil Game Show gives awards to great celebrities in the industry with the Lifetime Achievement Awards. In 2023, it was awarded to Alexey Pajitnov and Naoki Yoshida for their contributions to the world of video games throughout their careers.
Equinox LATAM Game Awards
Brasil Game Show is also a space for tributes to the biggest releases and personalities of the world of games. Boosting the relevance of the consumer market and Latin-American developers, Equinox brought to the stage of the Monster Energy BGS Arena the Equinox LATAM Game Awards, which gives awards to developers, actors, artistic direction, TikTokers, cosplayers, and eSports organizations through popular vote and specialized judges.
This year, we had almost 40 awards given during the ceremony, which represents a moment of celebration of amazing achievements. The whole event was streamed through the official Brasil Game Show channels, and the list of winners goes as follows:
– Game of the Year: Baldur’s Gate 3
– Best PlayStation Game: Final Fantasy XVI
– Best Xbox Game: Starfield
– Best Nintendo Switch Game: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom
– Best Mobile Game: Final Fantasy Ever Crisis
– Best VR Game: Resident Evil 8 VR
– Best PC Game: Baldur’s Gate 3
– Best Spanish Performance: Final Fantasy XVI
– Best Brazilian Performance: Marcus Pejon
– Best Spanish Studio: Halberd Studios
– Best Brazilian Studio: Rogue Snail
– Best Social Impact Action: EA Sports FC 24
– Best Game Adapted to Spanish: Final Fantasy XVI
– Best Game Adapted to Brazilian Portuguese: Baldur’s Gate 3
– Best Videogame Movie or Series: The Last of Us
– Best Adventure Game: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom
– Best Battle Royale Game: Fortnite
– Best Sports Game: EA Sports FC 24
– Best eSports Game: League of Legends
– Best Family Game: Pikmin 4
– Best Indie Game: Sea of Stars
– Best Multiplayer Game: Street Fighter 6
– Best Open World Game: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom
– Best Platformer: Blasphemous 2
– Best RPG: Baldur’s Gate 3
– Best Soundtrack: Final Fantasy XVI
– Best Artistic Direction: Final Fantasy XVI
– Best Audio Design: Dead Space
– Best DLC: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
– Best Ongoing Game: Genshin Impact
– Best Narrative: Baldur’s Gate 3
– Best Cosplayer: Chofiplays
– Best Content Creator: Kumaru Anime
– Best Sports Team: Isurus
– Best Sports Player: Daveeys
– Best TikToker: Kumaru Anime
– Best Twitch Streamer: Crystal Molly
– Best YouTuber: Elfedelobo
BGS Talks Record TV
During the five days of BGS, over 30 attractions went through the BGS Talks Record TV stage. It had guests and visitors for panels about many subjects related to games and eSports. Among the highlights were:
Shota Nakama, Video Game Orchestra creator
João Cappelli, voice and voiceover director for “The Last of Us”
Alexey Pajitnov, “Tetris” creator
Kenny James, voice actor for Bowser
Beamon, streamer of Mec Inc.
Igor, streamer of Mec Inc.
Manolo Rey, voice actor for Luigi in Brazilian Portuguese
Bianca Alencar, voice actor for Princess Uta (“One Piece”)
Flávia Fontenelle, voice actor for Ashley Tisdale
Raphael Rossatto, voice actor for Mario in Brazilian Portuguese
Marco Ribeiro, voice actor for “Iron Man” and “The Mask”
Shota Nakama, Video Game Orchestra creator
Alexey Pajitnov, “Tetris” creator
Kenny James, voice actor for Bowser
Carina Eiras, voice actor for Peach in Brazilian Portuguese
Marcio Dondi, voice actor for Bowser in Brazilian Portuguese
Takashi Iizuka, Creative Director of the Sonic series
Naoki Yoshida, “Final Fantasy XVI” Producer
Koji Fox, Localization Director of “Final Fantasy XVI”
Ned Luke, “GTA V” actor
Shawn Fonteno, “GTA V” actor
Nolan Bushnell, Atari Founder
Jun Senoue, Sonic Music Composer
Jovem Nerd and Azaghal, founders of Jovem Nerd and Nonsense Creations
FRTTT, former pro player and streamer
BGS Meet & Greet TCL
In 2023, the space reserved for visitors to get to know their icons was sponsored by TCL, a pioneer in the Brazilian consumer electronics market. There, thousands of visitors could take pictures and talk with more than 100 international guests, influencers, and pro players who went there throughout the five days of the conference.
The schedule included:
Alexey Pajitnov
Kenny James
Flamengo’s Free Fire Team
Olkbone and Rbiana
Rajah
Influencers Flamengo Esports
João Cappelli
Guimsa, Lari Game, Luuy, Carol TV
Bin3r, Kim Bonilla, Tum Tum
Voice-Actors
Voice-Actors of the Mario movie
Porta dos Fundos
Zigueira and Razah
FURIA’s CS Team
BGS Esports Champions
Marco Ribeiro
Ale Maze, Bloquinho TV and Dengoso, Supreminho
Beamon and Gary, Nicole Diretora, Zahri, Bruna Blince and Igor
Facada, Locking and Luanz7, Naoki Yoshida and Koji Fox
Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno, Takashi Iizuka
Bak, Khalil, Mwzera and Konan
Bastet, Jessie and Bruna Blince
Team Liquid’s Valorant Team
Mii, Coreano, and Yayah (LOUD)
Abrahan Joy, Erik Can and Fael, Oivanessa, Thamás and Tutujm
Babs, Luma, and Rato Feliz
Nolan Bushnell
Brino, Sofia Espanha, Paula, and Mount
Goularte
Gorila
Jovem Nerd and Azaghal
Pijack and Jukes
Pulga, Abduzido, and ED
Cynthia, Paty, Zaphira, and Nicky
Fecoxa, Dr. Fran, Ruyzo, and Bruno Clash
Jun Senoue
Shota Nakama
Pijack, Prodelta, CarolK, and DyNKas
Rey and kaos
Chance Glasco
FrTTT and Rakin
Bagi, Cinemagrath, Freitas, and LevelUp007
Naoki Yoshida and Koji Fox
LOUD Influencers
BGS Esports Champions
BGS Indie Avenue: Area Dedicated to the Development of National Games
The BGS Indie Avenue, bigger than ever, introduced great new titles in the Brazilian and international independent industry. In the big corridor full of booths, visitors could check innovative titles that highlight the bright future of creative game developers.
One of the highlights of this year’s edition was Good Dog, led by Chance Glasco, co-creator of Call of Duty, who showed new features about the new game “Martial Arts Tycoon Brasil”, set in Brazil. Senac SP, one of the biggest teaching institutions for courses about innovation and technology in the country, brought games created by students of the Game Design course, who designed creative titles that reinforce innovation and the capability of the national development market.
The other studios that could show their titles were: White Vortex, Statera Studio, SkadiStudio, Dream Stories, Hermitcrab, Dango Games, The Big Mark, INSANE, QUByte Interactive, Goldilock One, Bandsoft, Red Studios, Estúdio Bolha, GamerXP Arena, SculpBytes, Iamandu Studios, Capivara Prime, Pepita Digital, Quasares Studios, Leonardo Interactive, Araplay Studio, O Culto?, PaperCut, United Games, LUMO Entertainment, Bitnamic Software, Vermillion Game Studio, Amazônia Viva, Skadi Studio, Kaizaki Games, Unhide, Game Hollywood, Xsolla, AOCA Games Lab, Combat Zone, Sky Falling Studios, and Orube Game Studio.
BGS Cosplay Bauducco
For the second year in a row, Bauducco did its best to bring to BGS a huge structure so that fans of the art of cosplay could enjoy the event at its best. The dressing room offered a large space so that the cosplayers could prepare to bring a real performic show to the corridors of the conference. In addition, the Bauducco stage had daily competitions, with three batteries of 50 participants each, totaling 150 daily participants who disputed the preference of the public and the judges in choosing the best representation of their favorite characters.
The jury of each battery consisted of five members, including experts from the cosplay universe and special guests, such as the actors Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno, from GTA V, Kenny James, Bowser’s voice actor (Super Mario), Naoki Yoshida, Koji Fox (FINAL FANTASY), and Nolan Bushnell, Atari’s creator.
In 2023, BGS accredited over 2,500 cosplayers, with 750 of them participating in the official competition.
BGS Store
The traditional BGS Store was twice the size of the 2022 one and had record sales, with results three times larger than those in the 2022 edition. Over the five days of the event, the public was able to purchase a portfolio with dozens of official product options, such as shirts, posters, books, pins, cups, stickers, and other accessories with the new mascot of the conference. All of them are still on sale at Rank1, the official partner of the event at BGS Store.
Another addition was that, for the first time, visitors were also able to buy Sega’s official products and accessories in an area dedicated to the brand and featured exclusive products from the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise.
Huge Press and Influencer Coverage
The 14th edition of Brasil Game Show also featured significant press coverage and influencers. There were more than 11,000 requests for accreditation, of which almost 9,000 were approved. The five days of the conference were covered by 2,350 journalists, bloggers, and TV and radio professionals, as well as 6,580 influencers with over 100,000 followers.
Influencers with over one million followers on one of their social media were able to enjoy the Insider Lounge, a space reserved for content creators to recharge their batteries, socialize, and put different ideas into practice. About 900 guests from over 550 channels/profiles attended.
Social Actions
Reinforcing that within the gamer culture there is also the act of caring and the effort to make the world a better place, in 2023, Brazil Game Show continued its partnership with social institutions whose work was aimed at offering dignity to people in different situations of social vulnerability. NGOs such as Casa de David and Casas André Luiz benefited from the donation of 47 tons of food supplied by the conference’s visitors.
Brasil Game Show 2024
The 15th edition of the conference is already confirmed in São Paulo, from October 9th to the 15th, at Expo Center Norte.
About BGS: Brasil Game Show (BGS) is the largest gaming event in Latin America and one of the world’s biggest events in terms of occupied area and visitors. Held for the first time in 2009, the event has already received more than 3.1 million visitors during all its editions, and nowadays it takes place on the pavilions of Expo Center Norte, in São Paulo. Bringing together the main companies in the segment, it serves as a stage to show the biggest game releases of the year and to attract some of the most important names of the industry worldwide. It also allows independent studios to showcase their work. BGS also offers a great business opportunity to engage investors, business executives and professionals from the games industry, while considering the importance of the commitment towards social responsibility. During its 14 editions, the event has managed to raise and donate around 500 tons of food.
