The ninth largest economy in the world, high purchasing power (eighth place), one of the largest downloads in Google Play and the App Store (third place - just after India and the United States) - all this is Brazil.
The Brazilian mobile games market is large, fast-growing and very exciting for developers. In this article, we will discuss which Brazilians are playing and how they play, which games and applications are being downloaded more often and why, as well as highlighting the Brazilian features and advising developers on how to adapt games to this market.
1. Who plays and how
Brazil had 76 million gamers in 2018, according to Newzoo . They spend about $ 1.5 billion on games a year (of which $ 380 million was spent on mobile games in 2020, and the number of users was 60 million), which puts Brazil in 13th place in the global games market, and in first - in Latin America.
Who is Brazilian and on what devices are they playing? According to Forbes, a 2019 Game Brazil poll showed that the majority of players were women (53%). The most popular gaming device is a smartphone (83%), followed by game consoles (48.5%). The majority of players (61.9%) are between 25 and 54 years old.
Interviewalso showed that "hardcore" players are usually men aged 25-34 and play on consoles. At the same time, their opposite - “casual” players - are mainly women (58.8%) aged 25–34 years, who prefer mobile games.
According to the international consumer survey Statista, players on mobile devices are approximately evenly distributed by income, but there are more players with an average income (38.4%) than with low (32.1%) or high (29.6%) players.
The most popular operating system is Android (79.9%), in second place is iOS (16.4%), in third place is Windows (2.2%). Apple's small share reflects a general Latin American trend - as does Android's market share. Be sure to consider this inequality when developing games for the Brazilian market.
It should also be remembered that Brazilians, like Hispanics in general, tend to buy mid-range phones with less storage (often less than 10GB). In addition, one device is often used by several family members, and each one installs what he needs, so the less space the games and applications take up, the better.
The vast majority of Brazilians use Android, which is why Google Play is the most popular store and significantly overtakes the App Store. But other stores are also used, such as Aptoide (for Android) and Baixaki (a popular website for downloading games and apps for Android and iOS).
2. Popular games and applications
Game downloads from Google Play and the App Store in 2019 in Brazil follow global trends - in particular, the usual Minecraft, Free Fire, Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, PUBG, Sonic the Hedgehog, Counter-Strike , Pokémon.
Brazilians are very sociable, they have strong family and friendships, it is important for them to be a part of society, so it is not surprising that most of the popular applications are instant messengers (and WhatsApp comes first).
This is reflected in the types of applications that are downloaded more often: the majority are applications that encourage people to spend time together rather than apart. Brazilians have a preference for communication apps and multiplayer games, which are increasingly popular.
In Brazil, mobile games are launched to distract and relieve stress (87% of respondents in a Google Consumer Survey), so ads should focus on relaxation and stress relief.
For this reason, in Brazil, they prefer games that can captivate and completely capture the attention: these are action games, strategy and RPG games. In addition, Brazil is the third largest esports market in the world.
3. Brazil is a promising market
In recent years, Brazil, like other Latin American countries, has experienced super-fast technological growth. In terms of Google Play and the App Store, the country's market is larger than that of Mexico, and ranks first in Latin America for downloads of mobile games.
The country's population is 212 million people, and 81% have smartphones (by 2025 the figure is predicted to be 88%), so Brazil is the third in the world in terms of the total number of downloads in the App Store and Google Play.
The total number of downloads of the countries (evaluation of 500 most popular applications of the category "all", January - June 2019), the source
predicted Statista , 2025 income in the Brazilian market of mobile games will reach $ 450 million.
4. Adapting to the realities of the Brazilian market
Brazilians love social networks and instant messengers - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp. Try to add entertaining content - such as contests and promotions - and encourage users to share it with friends. Use YouTube: Brazilians spend a lot of time watching local channels, so involve influencers in promoting the game. One of the most popular Brazilian gamers in Brazil is João Sampaio, on the Flakes Power channel .
Promotions and specials in mobile games are a good option to grab your audience's attention - Brazilians say they love great deals and savings. Don't forget to localize prices and convert them to Brazilian Reals (R $).
And one more thing: Brazil is located in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is hot during the winter months, but it can be chilly in June, July and August - keep this in mind when making references to the weather during seasonal holidays and themed events .
5. User language
In terms of language, Brazilians clearly prefer to play games in their native Portuguese: only 5% of the population is fluent in English. So, if you wanted to know if your app needs to be translated into Portuguese, the answer is obvious: if you don't, most players will pass you by.
It is important to remember that this must be Brazilian (not European) Portuguese: they differ in both pronunciation and vocabulary. "You" is você in Brazilian Portuguese and tu in European. "Girl" in Portugal is "rapariga", and in Brazil the same word can mean ... "woman of easy virtue." At the very least, such differences can cause confusion - be careful.
Experience shows that if ASO is performing well in Portugal, then it is likely to fail in Brazil - and vice versa. Read more in this article .
Portuguese words are typically 25–30% longer than English words, so it is recommended that extra space be allocated when designing interface elements, especially for short strings such as menu items.
You can use Nitro, a professional translation service to localize your game, translate a store page, and other marketing materials, to help you translate text in record time (often in just a couple of hours).
In Nitroyou can select your preferred language option: Brazilian Portuguese or European Portuguese. Remember, the “wrong” option will be confusing to Brazilians at best and annoying at worst.
Our Full HP customers have shared an interesting story about how their mobile shooter Mad GunZ has won a Brazilian audience. When they released Mad GunZ on an alternative platform (Catappult), the game was only in English.
They got featured (see the biggest jump in the screenshot), but the numbers soon dropped again. Most of the players were from Brazil, so Full HP localized the game and app page to Brazilian Portuguese - and as a result, the number of players grew again.
Mad GunZ download growth after Portuguese localization. Featured and localized in Portuguese on the chart.
Another client of ours, family development platform Wachanga, says that Brazilians are very active and willing to give feedback and suggestions for improvement. So we urge you to try your luck with this promising audience :)
Conclusion
The mobile games market in Brazil, of course, cannot be compared with the Chinese one, but it is constantly growing and opens up attractive prospects for developers.
Remember that Brazilians love multiplayer games and that the downloads mostly come from Google Play.
The vast majority of Brazilians only speak Portuguese, so be sure to translate the app and marketing materials. Get translators who are native speakers and make sure the translation will be done in Brazilian Portuguese rather than European.
Finally, keep in mind that the gaming market in Brazil is still growing. Brazilians have proven that they are willing to pay for games: more than two-thirds of players have average or high income levels, so the average check and LTV in mobile games will continue to grow.
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article was written in Alconost.
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