The Rio de Janeiro City Hall, through RioFilme, an agency of the Municipal Secretariat of Culture, is preparing to open a Public Consultation for the calls for proposals for the second part of its 2025 Carioca Audiovisual Development Program. The Electronic Games segment, which represents one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, is among the sectors that will benefit from the company's investments. The call for proposals dedicated to games will have an investment of R$1,5 million in municipal resources, to be divided among the lines of Development of playable prototypes, Production of complete games, and Distribution of developed games.
Last week (December 2nd), RioFilme announced an investment of R$5,3 million for the following grant programs: Short Films, Local Actions, Film Festivals and Showcases, and Support for Participation in International Festivals and Showcases. All grant programs in the second part of the Funding Program, including the Electronic Games grant, will be available for Public Consultation between December 16th and January 31st, 2026. As it has done every year, RioFilme promotes the sector's participation in the development of its funding policy through direct dialogue with representatives of the Rio de Janeiro audiovisual industry and the contributions made during the Consultation. RioFilme will receive and analyze all contributions from the sector sent to the email address: fomento.riofilme@prefeitura.rio, from the opening date of the public consultation (December 16th) until 11:59 PM on January 31st.
Investments by RioFilme generated almost R$6 million in the Rio de Janeiro gaming industry.
Between 2022 – when RioFilme included the gaming segment in its Program to Promote Audiovisual Production in Rio – and 2025, the city-owned company financed 23 video game projects, through an investment of R$3,350 million. The funds benefited five projects in the Video Game Production line and 14 in the Playable Prototype Production segment.
In addition to specific calls for proposals for electronic games, RioFilme invested R$ 300 in events related to the gaming universe through its Support for Exhibitions and Festivals program: the Game Jam Plus (a benchmark event in Brazil) and two editions of Super Hacka Kids, which targets children and teenagers. In the field of professional training for the sector, RioFilme invested R$ 120 in Professional Mentoring courses for Game Production.
The sum of the resources reveals that the City Hall has invested R$3,7 million in electronic games over the last three years, fostering one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The total amount generated from the sum of private investments resulting from this public investment by RioFilme is R$5,862 million, which has impacted the city's creative economy, training professionals, creating new jobs, and enhancing Rio's soft power globally.
Rio de Janeiro stands out as the best place in Brazil to invest in games.
In a recent study promoted by SEBRAE (Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service) to evaluate the gaming industry in Brazil, released during an event in Rio Grande do Sul, the state of Rio de Janeiro stood out as the best place in the country to start a gaming business. The research was divided into six areas, of which Rio de Janeiro scored the maximum (4 out of 4) in four: Access to Capital and Funding – achieving the concept of "advanced" in access to resources; Training and Talent; Communication and Market; and Governance and Networking. This reaffirms the importance of public funding programs for the sector in the results obtained.
The city of Rio, a hub for the sector in the state, has been investing precisely in the areas that scored highest in the SEBRAE study, expanding access to resources through calls for proposals and dialogue with the sector in the development of investment lines; supporting mentoring programs for the training and qualification of new professionals; and formulating public policies designed for an expanding market.
Rio-based studios, partners of RioFilme, stand out in awards ceremonies.
In January 2024, the City Hall inaugurated the Gamer Arena, the first public arena in Latin America dedicated to electronic games. Located within the Nave do Conhecimento (Knowledge Ship) at Engenhão Stadium in the city's North Zone, the space is part of the structure of the Municipal Secretariat of Science and Technology, in partnership with the Games and e-Sports Coordination of the Civil House Secretariat. The space, which is available free of charge for gaming events and game launches, has already hosted over one hundred events since its inauguration, attracting five thousand people. The Arena, which includes a podcast studio, has established itself as a flexible facility serving the entire creative economy chain.
Recently, Arena Gamer hosted the second edition of "Brasil tá pra game" (Brazil is ready for games), an event promoted by Embratur in partnership with Abragames, which distributed R$190 in prizes for games that promote Brazilian tourism and culture. Of the three winning games, two were developed by studios that received funding from RioFilme in recent calls for proposals. And of the ten finalist games, nine were from the state of Rio.
Earlier this year, the demo for the game The Light of the Darkness: ORIGINS, developed by professionals who went through a mentorship program supported by RioFilme, MenthorHUB, achieved immense commercial success, establishing partnerships with companies in Silicon Valley.
These results highlight the importance of public policies for connecting and training talent, innovating in business models, and supporting the global launch of independent games.
