Behold Studios’ second life

“No
one
knew
that
it
was
possible
to
make
games
in
Brazil.”

Saulo
Camarotti
set
up
Behold
Studios,
one
of
the
longest
running
Brazilian
developers,
over
15
years
ago.
The
studio
is
primarily
known
for
2012
RPG
Knights
of
Pen
&
Paper,
and
2017
sequel
Galaxy
of
Pen
and
Paper.
But
when
it
first
began,
starting
a
games
business
in
Brazil
was
not
common.

“We
were
trying
to
get
to
international
events,
like
GDC
or
Gamescom,
trying
to
pitch
our
games
–
and
it
was
kind
of
a
big
surprise
for
most
of
the
publishers,”
Camarotti
recalls.
“They
were
not
so
comfortable
with
new
studios.
The
gaming
industry
[in
Brazil]
was
quite
new
at
the
time.
So
we
got
a
little
bit
of
prejudice,
and
it
was
hard
for
them
to
invest
in
the
country.

“Even
15
years
later,
I
do
think
it’s
still,
for
some,
a
wild
thing
to
invest
in
a
game
production
in
Latin
America.
But
publishers
in
the
past
five
[or]
ten
years
are
getting
used
to
the
scene,
getting
used
to
working
with
Brazilians,
so
that’s
a
good
thing.”

Brazil
doesn’t
have
a
AAA
industry
yet,
Camarotti
notes,
though
it
does
have
“big
studios.”
They’re
just
not
necessarily
producing
AAA
content
–
if
they
are,
it’s
often
work-for-hire
with
Western
studios
–
but
rather
focusing
on
free-to-play
mobile.

“We
don’t
have
the
workforce
that’s
coming
out
of
AAA
and
going
to
other
companies
and
improving
the
quality
of
game
productions,”
he
says.
“So,
for
example,
I
live
in
Toronto,
Canada.
And
I
see
that
the
students
that
are
coming
out
of
universities
are
going
to
work
for
a
Ubisoft
or
a
AAA,
so
they
get
experience,
and
sometimes
they
open
their
own
studios.
And
here
in
Brazil,
we
are
opening
the
studios
out
of
necessity
–
there
is
no
one
to
hire
us.

“That
was
my
case.
15
years
ago,
I
was
graduating
from
computer
science,
I
wanted
to
work
with
games
and
in
my
hometown
Brasilia
–
a
huge
city
[of]
three
million
people
–
there
was
no
one
to
hire
me,
no
company,
no
business.
So
I
had
to
open
my
own.”

A
first
iteration
of
the
studio
as
a
work-for-hire
developer
was
set
up
in
2009,
but
it
was
shuttered
in
2011
before
rising
from
its
ashes
to
become
what
it
is
now.

“At
the
time,
everyone
was
saying
‘You
should
do
a
work-for-hire
business’,”
Camarotti
recalls.
“So
I
started
doing
some
‘advergames’
and
serious
games,
or
even
co-dev
–
trying
to
at
least.
And
for
the
first
two
years,
it
was
alright
but
not
necessarily
good
enough
for
us
to
keep
on
going.
So
we
decided
to
close
the
studio.”

Camarotti
ended
up
forming
a
new
team
of
four
with
former
employees
who
were
keen
to
keep
making
games,
and
adopted
“a
very
indie
approach
to
game
development.”

“That’s
when
we
started
Knights
of
Pen
and
Paper;
six
months
later,
we
were
topline
App
Store
and
Google
Play.
And
that
was
like,
‘Oh,
okay,
so
we
can
do
our
own
games,
we
can
create
our
own
IPs’.
So
that’s
what
we
started
focusing
on.”

What
changed,
Camarotti
adds,
is
focusing
on
projects
they
truly
believed
in
rather
than
chasing
a
business
trend
“for
the
money.”

“That
changed
everything.
Every
time
that
we
start
a
new
project,
and
realise
that
we’re
doing
that
only
because
it’s
good
for
the
market,
or
kind
of
an
external
motivation,
it
doesn’t
go
well.
But
when
we
look
inside,
try
to
find
things
that
we
are
truly
enthusiastic
about,
that’s
when
it
shines.
So
I
think
that’s
what
we
learned.”

The
studio’s
latest
project
is
Cosplay
Club,
another
turn-based
RPG
but
this
time
focusing
on
becoming
a
cosplayer.
It
was
released
in
Early
Access
in
December
2023,
having
been
funded
in
only
two
hours
via
a
Kickstarter
campaign
in
2022.

“We
really
want
to
get
to
the
niche,”
Camarotti
says
when
we
ask
about
his
expectations
for
the
title.
“We
really
want
to
find
cosplayers
and
people
that
are
very
enthusiastic
about
cosplay
or
even
people
that
want
to
be
a
cosplayer
[but]
don’t
have
the
skills,
and
we’re
trying
to
create
this
experience
of
an
RPG,
wholesome,
heartwarming
in
a
way.

“And
we
want
to
bring
it
to
consoles,
we
want
to
come
into
mobile,
and
see
what
happens.
We
don’t
have
numbers
as
in
what
we
expect
out
of
it,
but
it’s
just
having
fun
and
trying
to
find
partners
to
bring
it
to
consoles.”

Behold
Studios
has
remained
small,
with
a
team
of
eight
split
across
Canada
(three
people)
and
Brazil
(five
staff).

“We
feel
that
we
are
a
Brazilian
studio,”
Camarotti
says.
“Of
course,
we
can
benefit
from
being
in
both
countries.
We
have
tax
credits
in
Canada,
we
have
access
to
events
and
a
lot
of
things.
But
100%
of
our
team
is
Brazilian,
we
hire
only
Brazilians,”
he
laughs.
“So
we
feel
like
a
Brazilian
team
for
sure.”

But
the
introduction
of
a
new
legal
framework
in
Brazil
will
slowly
be
changing
things
like
access
to
tax
credits
for
instance,
as
we

discussed
at
length
on
Tuesday.
And
overall
the
industry
in
Brazil
has
come
a
long
way
since
the
early
days
of
Behold
Studios.

“The
talent
[in
Brazil]
is
amazing,”
Camarotti
says.
“It’s
different
from
everyone
that
I’ve
worked
with,
people
are
[such]
hard
workers,
and
they
find
their
way.
We
don’t
have
a
lot
of
resources,
we
never
did.
But
we
can
do
pretty
much
everything.
So
it’s
really
nice
to
have
some
Brazilians
in
the
team,
because
they
just
come
up
with
very
creative
solutions
for
everything.
I
think
that’s
the
biggest
advantage
of
working
with
Brazilians.
I
do
love
the
aesthetics
of
Brazilian
[artists
as
well].
We
have
artists
all
over
the
world,
working
for
every
big
studio.”

But
that’s
not
to
say
the
industry
in
Brazil
is
now
completely
devoid
of
challenges.

“We
don’t
have
the
best
internet
broadband
connections
here,”
Camarotti
says.
“But
we
do
have
good
ones
–
enough
to
be
connected.
It’s
not
that
cheap,
but
we
do
have
a
very
big
part
of
the
population
connected.”

But
when
it
comes
to
other
practical
aspects
of
running
a
studio
in
Brazil,
Camarotti
notes
that
Brazilians
have
truly
embraced
remote
working,
as
we
also
noted
in
our

overview
of
the
market
on
Monday.

“Even
15
years
later,
I
do
think
it’s
still,
for
some,
a
wild
thing
to
invest
in
a
game
production
in
Latin
America”

“You
don’t
have
to
commute
anymore,
you
don’t
use
public
transport
that’s
not
that
good.
Working
remotely
[is]
really
good.
One
thing
that’s
happening
a
lot
is
Brazilians
are
getting
jobs
in
other
countries.
So
they’re
getting
paid
in
US
dollars,
and
living
the
life
here.
So
I
think
that’s
a
good
thing.
And
they’re
starting
to
get
a
lot
of
experience
because
of
it.”

He
adds
that
historically
Brazil
has
always
exported
talent
globally.

“And
I’m
one
of
the
cases,
right?
I
just
went
abroad,
I
wanted
to
live
with
my
family
and
see
what’s
out
there.
And
it’s
good
to
be
there.

“At
the
same
time,
right
now
the
opportunities
of
working
remotely
but
still
being
in
Brazil
[are]
very
good.
So
it’s
interesting,
because
Brazilians
are
cheaper
if
they’re
working
remote,
because
Brazil
is
a
cheaper
place
to
live
compared
to
North
America
and
Europe.
It’s
very
interesting
to
see
people
getting
jobs
in
the
US
and
getting
[paid
in]
dollars.
$30,000
per
year
is
huge
here.”

More
personally,
Camarotti
highlights
his
personal
challenges
of
running
Behold
Studios
since
the
success
of
Knights
of
Pen
&
Paper.

“Throughout
the
first
ten
years,
my
job
was
60%
dedicated
to
the
studio
and
probably
40%
dedicated
to
the
indie
scene.
I
was
volunteering
to
host
game
jams,
I
was
trying
to
bring
publishers,
I
was
a
regional
director
for
[the
Brazilian
trade
association],
I
was
trying
to
promote
the
independent
game
development
scene.
And
that
took
a
lot
of
effort.
And
no
return
out
of
it.
But
at
the
same
time,
it
was
a
big
part
of
my
[job].

“And
I
think
that
it
was
a
big
challenge,
because
I
was
not
just
focusing
on
my
own
business,
I
needed
to
promote
everyone,
and
teach,
and
it
was
important
for
me
as
a
studio
to
have
a
good
environment
of
other
studios,
and
so
we
can
co-develop
or
share
experiences,
and
we
didn’t
have
any
anyone
that
was
teaching
us.
We
kind
of
were
pushing
the
cart
forward.”

“Investors
and
publishers
should
look
to
other
countries
as
a
place
to
get
inspired
and
create
games
from
different
perspectives”

Brazil
is
the
fifth
biggest
market
globally
in
terms
of
the
number
of
active
games
players,
with
Camarotti
saying
Brazilians
are
particularly
occupying
the
online
space
of
titles
like
PUBG,
Free
Fire,
or
Fortnite.

“It’s
a
huge
audience,
and
they’re
very
well
connected,”
he
says.
“I
do
think
there’s
a
lot
of
opportunities
in
free-to-play
games,
especially
games
that
run
well
on
low
end
devices.
I
think
that’s
the
core
audience
in
Brazil,
for
sure.”

He
adds
in
a
laugh:
“And
that’s
not
what
I’m
doing.
I’m
doing
the
opposite.
I’m
doing
high
end,
trying
to
do
console
games,
and
premium.”

Concluding
our
chat,
Camarotti
highlights
that
the
games
industry
is
in
crisis
worldwide
–
and
that’s
a
good
reason
to
look
at
booming
markets
like
Brazil.

“These
past
two
years,
it’s
just
a
lot
of
struggle
and
I
do
think
that
investors
and
publishers
should
look
to
other
countries
as
a
place
to
get
inspired
and
create
games
from
different
perspectives.
That
could
be
very
important
for
the
whole
industry.
So
going
to
Brazil,
Argentina,
or
Uruguay,
and
trying
to
find
different
talents.
And
I
know
that
there’s
some
opportunity
out
there,
coming
up
for
BIPOC
or
queer
people.
And
I
do
think
that
also
for
Latinos,
that
would
be
really
nice
to
see
more
games
that
are
different.”

Additional
contributions
by
James
Batchelor