Commercialisation of Games in Brazil

The gaming market in Brazil has grown significantly in recent years, leading publishers to adopt multiple payment methods to reach its public.

Brazilian Gaming Market

The Brazilian market for games has recently become the largest in Latin America, with an estimated total value of 1.4 billion USD to be reached by 2014.

Traditional computer and console games are still growing in Brazil and overcoming old hurdles the country has presented in the past, such as piracy and heavy taxes.

Online, casual and social network games have also shown solid growth rates in the Brazilian market. These kind of games generally do not require payment up front but offer multiple small products or benefits inside the games themselves, a monetization model referred to as free to play or microtransactions-based.

The methods for payment for gaming products for the Brazilian public are varied. The Brazilian buyer usually tends to prefer physical stores where most of the revenue for traditional console and disc-based games come from.

The scenario for online gaming transactions in Brazil is more complex. Companies present multiple payment methods and services in ways that seek to be the most convenient for Brazilian gamers, which include pre-paid cards in supermarkets and stores, Boleto Bancário, SMS messages, online bank transfers and many others.

Payment Methods

Some of the most accepted payment methods for online gaming in Brazil include:

• Boleto Bancário: A paper document that represents a banking transaction
• Online Wire Transfer: Transactions made directly from the clients bank account to the game company
• Pre-paid cards: Paper vouchers sold in Brazilian supermarkets and stores that contain redeemable codes for gaming credits
• SMS: Cell phone messages that connect directly to the game company and are integrated with the mobile operator charges
• Paypal
• Credit card

There are also Brazilian services that specialise in the trade of credits for a variety of games while offering multiple payment methods. Some of these include:

• BoaCompra: A service created by Brazilian portal UOL that offers credits for a wide variety of online games and accepts multiple payment methods including Boleto Bancário, credit card, bank transfers and Paypal
• Rixty: Game credit store offers support to multiple games and trades pre-paid cards sold in physical stores and online credits which accept Boleto Bancário, bank transactions and credit cards

Level Up! Games

Level Up! Games is an online game publisher from the Philippines that has gained great popularity in Brazil during the last decade by providing some of the country’s most played massive online games such as Ragnarok Online, Grand Chase and Combat Arms.

Their games offer multiple ways of payment for Brazilian consumers, which include credit card, Boleto Bancário, bank transfers, pre-paid cards sold in stores and supermarkets and SMS messaging.

Facebook Games

The popular social network serves some of the most popular online games in Brazil by integrating the personal relations of its users with the gaming experiences and generating cultural phenomenons like Candy Crush Saga and Farmville.

The payment method for Facebook games in Brazil include credit card, Paypal, SMS messaging, Boleto Bancário, bank transfers and pre-paid cards.

League of Legends

Developed by Riot Games, which opened an affiliate office in Brazil in 2012, one of the current most popular games in the country offers competitive team-based battles where players get to choose and customise their own heroes and requires no initial payment for gameplay.

Payment methods for the game include credit card, Boleto Bancário, bank transfers, SMS messaging and UOL BoaCompra.

World of Warcraft

The worldwide phenomenon developed by Blizzard Entertainment puts players in an online shared fantasy world where together they take part in adventures and in-game events. The game requires an initial purchase and a monthly subscription fee.

Word of Warcraft officially arrived in the country in 2011 with extensive localization and different payment methods tailored for the Brazilian public, which include credit card, online banking, Boleto Bancário and UOL BoaCompra.

Steam

Steam, an online computer game store created by developer Valve software, became a world leader by offering competitive prices, solid infrastructure and maintaining a good relationship with its community and game publishers. It currently offers some of the most popular paid and free games in the world such as Counter Strike, Team Fortress and Dota 2.

The service officially reached Brazil in 2012, when it began offering payment methods such as Boleto Bancário, national credit card and UOL BoaCompra.

Origin

Origin, an online store was established by the game publishing giant EA Games and holds exclusivity for some of the most popular gaming franchises in Brazil such as Fifa, Need for Speed and Battlefield.

Since 2013 the service offers payments by credit card, Paypal and Boleto Bancário.