“We're not looking for another Crossy Road”

In a digital marketplace replete with choice original ideas are what every publisher is looking for, but developers in emerging markets all too often retreat for the apparent safety of proven concepts.

This idea was explored in a sequence of two panels at the BIG Business Forum in Sao Paulo last week. The first panel was composed of indie publishers from the US and Europe: Versus Evil, Plug In Digital, Kongregate, Gambitious and Miniclip, all of them either working with developers in Brazil or at the event to find new partnerships.

"I don't care if a developer is from Brazil, the US, Russia or wherever. It's about the right project, the right ideas"

However, while the audience listened intently for advice on how to close the gap between Brazil's relatively new industry and established development hubs in countries US, Canada, the UK and France, one theme re-emerged throughout: in a global, digital marketplace the importance of geography is drastically reduced, to the point where, for an indie publisher, the world is now essentially flat. What matters most are ideas, wherever they happen to come from.

"You have very creative people, very talented," said Plug In Digital CEO Francis Ingrand. "But, to be honest, I don't care if a developer is from Brazil, the US, Russia or wherever. It's about the right project, the right ideas."

Where developers in Brazil and other Latin American companies can improve is in the way those ideas are presented. According to Steve Escalante, general manager of Versus Evil, "the days of just showing a design document or a presentation are over. I don't know if that's enough any more.

"We need to see that you're able to put your idea in motion, whether that's through a video or through a demo. It's great to talk about it - everybody's passionate, and we get that - but very rarely do we get a pitch, unless the game is almost done, that you're able to play and think, 'Yes, let's go.' It does happen, but it's rare."

Inevitably, a large proportion of the audience was making games for platforms like iOS, Android and Steam. However, Kongregate's business development manager, Melinda Montano, suggested the web as a better starting point for new or inexperienced developers. Kongregate built its business on web games, and the platform has significant advantages when it comes to refining and finessing an idea - both Spelunky and Super Meat Boy started out as web games, to name just two from a long list of fine examples.

"One of the problems in Latin America is that we try to mimic what is happening in the US or in Europe so many times and on so many levels"

"Web means you can fail quickly and you can succeed quickly," Montano said. "You don't have to wait two to seven days for a build to be approved, like with a mobile platform; you can do it in about five minutes... I recommend getting some practice on the web."

Monsanto highlighted another issue that indie publishers often face, one that would be picked up and explored in the second panel. "We're not looking for another Crossy Road," she said, "but we are looking for something that's great."

Of course, Crossy Road is great, but the slew of imitators that follow a breakout hit of that kind are another matter altogether. However, for developers in a country like Brazil, which has a limited number of publishers with a similarly limited reach, making "another Crossy Road" might seem to be a shortcut to establishing a foundation for success.

According to EA's director of business development, Mario Valle Reyes, who has been working with developers in Brazil and across Latin America for more than a decade, these mistakes in strategy can be inadvertently reinforced by the kind of advice offered on conference panels. One of his fellow panelists advised studios to hire a marketing specialist as a matter of high importance, another suggested that even a game like Monument Valley - which is sold for a premium price - would be unappealing to a mobile publisher as the market increasingly trends towards free-to-play.

For Reyes, this kind of advice, regardless of how well intended, can breed caution in regions that need to get comfortable with taking creative risks.

"The market is secondary to the quality of what you're building, to the experience. If you have a Monument Valley, take my money - take it right now," Reyes said. "I don't care about market trends, I don't care about freemium. The point is that, while it's very important to follow the market, and it's very important to listen to us here, if you're dependent on that first and what you're trying to build is secondary?

"I believe that Brazil and Argentina have the kind of communities, the skills, the talent to become a Stockholm, to become quality powerhouses. I think that the reason why we're not countries that seem capable of building things like Monument Valley, companies like Popcap, I think that fear is the reason. Regardless of what the freemium or premium markets are telling you to do, if you have a great product, they are secondary... We need to put together our priorities there.

"One of the problems in Latin America - and not just Latin America - is that we try to mimic what is happening in the US or in Europe so many times and on so many levels. But that isn't necessarily going to work in our own industry, or in SE Asia, or Indonesia, or in India.

"If you're going to mimic models that have been big in developed markets for years then you will fail. Get back to basics. Do that before you even think about hiring a marketing guy."

GamesIndustry.biz is a media partner for the BIG Business Forum. Our travel and accommodation costs were provided by the organiser.