Uruguayan videogame studios presented their projects to international publishers.

A group of 11 Uruguayan studios presented their video games to a panel of relevant publishers and international investors interested in financing regional projects. This Pitch Day event resulted from the sustained work of professionalization and support for commercial management that Uruguay XXI, the government investment, export, and country brand promotion agency, carries out to collaborate with the internationalization of Uruguayan video game production.

This event, organized within the framework of Level Uy 2023 -the largest videogame industry meeting in Uruguay- is the culmination of a long process that included the training of these developers with a leading videogame expert, the Production Manager at Hyper Luminal Games (UK), Pex Pison, who was also previously Business Development Manager at Pomelo Games and CEO of Trojan Chicken, both Uruguayan studios.

With the “Road to Pitch Day” training, now in its third edition, the studios gained a better understanding of the aspects involved in a videogame sales pitch and developed their pitch deck.

The 24 publishers and investors that listened to the sales pitches resulted from progressive networking and prospecting work that Uruguay XXI has been carrying out in international missions and events such as the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Big Festival, or Eva.

Some outstanding international participants of the Pitch Day were Epic Games, creators and publishers of Fortnite; Gaijin Entertainment, creators and publishers of War Thunder; Devolver Digital, publisher of Gris and one of the leading publishers of indie games and Team17, creator and publisher of Worms.

One of the tools used to promote investment and export of video games is the page to access information about Uruguayan studios and developers, as well as to visualize their projects in the development and launching stage. The purpose of this tool, launched last year, is to promote the sector in foreign markets and facilitate the generation of business and investment for local developments.

Uruguayan video games: “well thought out and original.”

Asked about the strengths of the studios that received the training and will be presented at the Pitch Day, Pex highlighted that they have “well thought-out” projects. “Most of the products are very original, and their developers have an obvious idea of what their competitive advantages are and the niche to which that game belongs,” he said.

Almost all are designed for PC or consoles and are mostly action and strategy games, he recounted. “They have a nice mix between the game they can make, the team’s passion, and what the market looks for. Most of them have a good chance of success,” he added.

What is certain is that the joint effort of Uruguay XXI, the Uruguayan Chamber of Video Game Developers (CAVI), and Uruguayan studios and developers are unveiling in foreign markets a thriving industry that offers a perfect alliance between creativity and qualified talent to develop video games for mobile platforms, PC or consoles.

The industry in Uruguay -which was the first country in Latin America to offer university degrees for professionals in the sector- is characterized for being a collaborative community with significant events. One of them is Level UY, a 100% local production that promotes culture and development opportunities both in Uruguay and the region, and in 2023 will be holding its seventh edition.

Uruguay has earned a place at the international level thanks to the success of several video games that have reached the top of the rankings of app stores and achieved visibility on the best platforms in the world.

Among other international awards, the “best game in Latin America” for the Kingdom Rush and Iron Marines sagas by Ironhide Game Studio at the Brazilian BIG festival stands out, with over 10 million downloads.

The success of this industry in Uruguay is also confirmed by its growth in the number of companies and the several million downloads of games created in the country. This ecosystem has attracted foreign companies such as Argentina’s Etermax and Globant, or the U.S. company Jam City, which chose Uruguay as the center of their operations due to the significant advantages it offers for doing business in Latin America and the world.