Brazil: Valued at US$2.3 billion, gaming sector experiences new phase with legal framework

The Brazilian gaming industry is about to live in a new phase.

Last week, the House of Representatives approved a bill that regulates the manufacture, importation, marketing, and development of electronic games in the country.

The Senate will analyze the Bill called PL 2.796/2021, or Legal Framework for Games.

Maurício Tamer, an attorney in the Technology area of Machado Meyer, explains that with the creation of the Legal Framework, “the industry takes the first important steps of legal certainty with important definitions, fosters the development of the sector, strengthens the role of the State as a stimulator of the segment and does justice by equating the tax treatment of electronic games with computer products.”

The lawyer explains that, if approved, the PL defines some important elements.

“It brings, for example, the definition that games of chance are not considered as electronic games, reinforces free initiative in the development of games, with the State only being able to limit the indicative age rating, and recognizes the possibility of games being used for therapeutic and educational purposes.”

“The advancement of the bill is very relevant to foster the entire industry of the sector, from developers to hardware and peripheral manufacturers, and bring more legal certainty.

“It promotes fair recognition of the growth of e-sports and encourages technological education and innovation.

“It also proposes to delimit the legality of the practices, as long as they are not strictly characterized as games of chance, i.e., games based exclusively on luck or chance,” concludes Maurício.

Brazil is the largest gaming market in Latin America, with an estimated revenue of R$12 billion in 2021 and a growth of 6% expected for 2022, according to consultancy Newzoo; in addition, the country is highlighted in consumption but also the hiring of skilled professionals for the industry.

The 9th edition of the Game Brazil Survey (PGB), the main survey of the sector, revealed a growth of 2.5 percentage points over the previous year, with 74.5% of the sample of the population of Brazil claiming to play in 2022. In other words, Brazilians consider themselves more and more gamers.

With information from Forbes