BIG Festival, the largest indie games festival of Latin America, has announced today the finalists of the BIG Starter competition, dedicated to that are still in development or that have not yet been published. Eight projects have been selected, five for the “Best Entertainment Game” category and three for the “Best Educational Game”. The winners will receive a trophy and a US$ 6.200 (~R$ 20.000) cash award, each, sponsored by BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank.
The creators of all selected games will have the unique opportunity of pitching their projects to a board of experts of the national and international industry, to the press and to investors on June 28th.
BIG Starter received 151 submissions this year, from all around the country, and, unlike previous years, participants also had to submit detailed business plans this time. To reach the eight finalists, the evaluation committee analyzed the general quality of the projects and the business plans. The criteria included audiovisual and interactive aspects, game mechanics and finishing details.
Jurors will take into consideration every material presented to them at the final pitch, as well as the games’ market potential and the consistency of the business plans.
Last year, Monowheels VR, by IMGNation Studios, from Rio Grande do Sul, was BIG Starter’s “Best Entertainment Game” grand winner. It is scheduled for release later this year. The game Vetor, by Supernova Indie Games, from Ceará, won as “Best Educational Game”.
“Big Starter is a great opportunity to obtain extra visibility to your game, drawing the attention of potential partners”, declared Orlando Fonseca, creative director of IMGNation Studios. “The cash prize is very helpful, because as independent developers we’re coming up with new ways of creating our own games.”
More about BIG Festival
BIG Festival happens from June 24th to July 2nd, at Centro Cultural São Paulo, in São Paulo Capital City, Latin America’s largest city. Apart from BIG Starter, the event holds an international competition, in which 45 games (finished) from several countries, dispute on 11 categories, such as “Best Game”, “Best Sound” and “Best Art”. Every finalist of the main competition will be playable for free at the event’s exhibition floor.
BIG Business Forum is the business hub that happens simultaneously within the Festival, from June 27 to July 1st, with more than 70 international guests representing global companies from all around the globe. They will attend the event to exchange experiences with Brazilian professionals and to participate in many debates, about careers, entrepreneurship and virtual reality. The Forum is one of the actions BGD, Export Project Brazilian Game Developers, a partnership between the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, Apex-Brazil, and Abragames, the Brazilian Game Developers Association.
An innovation this year is the BIG Anima Meetings, a partnership with renowned animation event Anima Mundi with the objective of strengthening the gaming and animation industries in Brazil. The complete program, as well as registrations for interested professionals, is available on: www.bigfestival.com.br.
Check out below this year’s BIG Starter finalists, separated per category:
BEST ENTERTAINMENT GAME
Award – US$ 6.200 (~R$ 20.000)
– Adventure Llama (Mobile) – Pedro Savino
– Darkness Revealed (PC and Mac) – Pixel Cows
– King Boom (Mobile) – Digi Ten
– No Place for Bravery (PC and consoles) – Glitch Factory Games
– The Last Princess (PC and consoles) – 40 Giants Entertainment
BEST EDUCATIONAL GAME
Award – US$ 6.200 (~R$ 20.000)
– MedRoom (Occulus Rift) – MedRoom
– Árida (PC) – Aoca Game Lab
– Senta a Pua (Mobile, PC and Mac) – Comics World Games
Service
5th BIG Festival (Brazil’s Independent Games Festival)
From June 24 to July 2nd (Monday, 26, is closed)
BIG Business Forum – June 27th to July 1st
From Tuesday to Friday: 10am to 10pm / Saturday and Sunday: 2pm to 10pm
Centro Cultural São Paulo – 1000 Vergueiro Street – São Paulo, Brazil
Free Admittance
Programs available for area activities and others open to the public, the BIG Business Forum, the festival business forum.
About BIG Festival
BIG Festival (Brazil’s Independent Games Festival), the first festival and market focused in the independent production of videogames in Brazil and pioneer in Latin America, aims to strengthen the independent production of games in Brazil through professional training and exchange of experiences, establishing itself as a business hub in Latin America for national and international game developers, and now also for animation with the introduction of BIG Anima Meetings, a partnership between BIG and Anima Mundi. In total, BIG Festival has received 768 game submissions, from 54 different countries. The event’s program include activities for game professionals and others open to the general public, including BIG Business Forum, BIG Impact, initiative dedicated to games with a positive impact, BIG VR, BIG Ventures, BIG Anima Business Meetings and BIG Careers.
Read more at our blog
About FD Comunicação
An e-Sports pioneer in Brazil, FD Comunicação is a traditional and modern agency. We have been announcing the greatest games and publishers in Brazil since 1997. In 2012, when Riot Games solidified the e-Sport in Brazil, we worked on the launch of League of Legends (LoL); in 2017, we announced the Champions of the Brazilian LoL Championship. This year we will be responsible for the e-Sports curatorship of BIG Festival, and our objective is to work for the growth and development of this new type of sport, which is here to stay.
Follow our social networks: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn
[recent_posts category=”blog-us”]
