Games industry opposes legal framework – 06/21/2023 – Tech

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The bill that establishes the legal framework for the electronic games and fantasy games industry (PL nº 2,796/2021) is the target of a negative campaign on social networks organized by the game developers themselves and by the associations that represent this industry .

Where it all began

The original project, authored by congressman Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP), aimed to separate videogames from gambling, a confusion that would end up overtaxing software and electronic equipment. During the procedure in the Chamber, it was replaced by a text reported by the then deputy Darci de Matos (PSD-SC) and approved on an urgent basis in October last year.

fantasy games

The main change in the text was the inclusion of fantasy sports games, or Fantasy Sports (such as Cartola and Rei do Pitaco), which are equated with electronic games and disassociated from the classification of sports betting sites. Popularly known as “bets”, these companies have recently been targeted by the government due to match-fixing scandals and are the target of tax attempts by the Ministry of Finance.

who is against

Abragames (Brazilian Association of Electronic Games Developers) spearheads the campaign, which uses the hashtag #PL2796NÃO. The entity claims that the project (read it here in full) does not meet the interests of the Brazilian games industry, does not bring advances and may even result in setbacks for recent achievements in the sector.

What they say

“The project uses an understanding from the 1990s, late 1980s, that video games are just software, when in reality they are as much software as an audiovisual product, which has a technological component and a cultural component”, says Rodrigo Terra, president of Abragames and creative director of the studio Arvore.

“This creates a big problem, because you will have to rework the understandings of government bodies so that they recognize this audiovisual component, for example, in the Ministry of Culture and even in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.”

who is for

The main supporter of the project is ABFS (Associação Brasileira de Fantasy Sports), an organization founded last year to represent fantasy sports game sites. The entity is chaired by Rafael Marchetti Marcondes, legal director of Rei do Pitaco and the IBJR (Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming), formed by sports betting companies such as Bet365, Betway Group and Rei do Pitaco himself.

What they say

“The project brings some very important guidelines for the sector in general. The main one is that it makes it clear that no type of game can be equated with a game of chance”, says Marcondes.

He defends the definition of electronic games present in the project, noting that, by avoiding an “exhaustive definition, in the sense of listing what is and what is not a game”, the text is more malleable to innovations in the sector.

There are controversies

Terra sees it differently: “If the PL passes like this, we’ll be disguising bets as electronic games.”

processing speed

Since it reached the Senate, the project has advanced rapidly. On the last day 6, it passed the CAE (Commission on Economic Affairs) and only needs to be approved in plenary to go to the presidential sanction. Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), rapporteur for the milestone in the House, told the Sheet who expects the text to be voted on before the start of the July recess.

Not like this

“It is a completely lost opportunity. We would prefer that this be done more slowly, that we could have time to debate this text. It is too weak for the industry”, he adds.

like that, yeah

“We have countless projects about games, but sometimes they don’t move forward because there is a tendency in the sector to want perfectionism in legislative writing that will never be achieved”, says Marcondes.

Amendments

In a last attempt to improve the project before the vote, Abragames filed four amendments last Thursday (15) together with senators Mecias de Jesus (Republicanos-RR) and Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF).

They make adjustments to parts of the law that define what electronic games are — including, for example, the understanding that they are audiovisual works — and include a device that classifies equipment as “essential tools for the development of electronic games” such as computers, console game creation kits, and programming software.

Light at the end of the tunnel

“With these amendments we managed to alleviate some of the problems. The ideal thing is for us to sit down to discuss and improve the project, but with them we have already managed to bring some positive effects. Without that, we are against it”, says Terra.

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play

game tip, new or old, for you to test

The Division Resurgence

(iOS, Android)

I had the opportunity to test the first mobile game in the series “The Division”, by Ubisoft. The title is in the testing phase and impresses with its breadth and responsiveness, even with touch controls. On the other hand, the robotic animations and shallow dialogs, added to the various graphic bugs, create embarrassing moments of involuntary humor. Now it is hoped that these problems can be corrected by the launch, scheduled for the last quarter of the year.

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update

news, launches, business and what matters most

• Embracer Group, the Swedish conglomerate that recently bought the game rights to the “Lord of the Rings” and “Tomb Raider” franchises, has announced that it will undergo an internal restructuring. This represents employee cuts, project cancellations and the sale of game studios until March next year. The group had already announced the cancellation of a US$ 2 billion (R$ 9.6 billion) agreement with another company after months of negotiations, which resulted in a 50% drop in its shares.

• The US court granted an injunction at the request of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission of the United States) to prevent the purchase of Activision by Microsoft from taking place at least until the next hearing on the case is held.

• Sony has announced that it is testing streaming games through the PlayStation 5. The company said it plans to add “cloud gaming” service on the console for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers in the future.

• In an interview with Folha, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, stated that he is open to the use of generative artificial intelligence in games. “I think games should be fun first and foremost, and we should use technology to allow teams to create better games,” he said.

• The head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, said in an interview with the website Axios that Microsoft will not develop new games for Xbox One consoles. As of now, the company is only focused on developing games for the Xbox Series S/X.

• Dan Houser, one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games (developer of the “GTA” series), announced that he is opening a new company called Absurd Ventures. According to the executive, the company will create games, movies, books and podcasts.

• Started last Monday (9) Steam Next Fest, Steam event in which developers present demos of games that should be released in the coming months. The festival runs until next Monday (26th) and is a great opportunity to discover indie titles.

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Download

games that will be released in the next few days and promotions that are worthwhile

June 22

“Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine”: R$ 32.99 (Switch), price not available (PC, PS 4/5, Xbox One/X/S)

“Final Fantasy XVI”: BRL 349.90 (PS 5)

“Harmony: The Fall of Reverie”: price not available (PS 5, Xbox X/S)

27.jun

“Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life”: R$ 179.99 (PC, Switch, Xbox X/S), price not available (PS 5)

promotion of the week

Humble Bundle started a sports game promotion on its website. For values ​​starting at US$ 15 (R$ 72.24), it is possible to purchase a package with six games such as “NBA2K23”, “Olli Olli World” and “Wave Break”. The promotion runs until the 28th and part of the amount raised will go to charities.