BGS is no longer the only game in town

For more than a decade, October had a single address for Brazilian gamers: Brasil Game Show, in São Paulo. In 2026, the October 12 holiday paints a very different picture. The 17th BGS runs October 9–12 at Distrito Anhembi. On the same weekend, Pichau launches its own event in Joinville, and Rio de Janeiro hosts the CBLOL final on Saturday, October 10.

Fans who once had an obvious choice now have to decide where to go. So do brands.

What changed

BGS is still a big show. This year, Nintendo takes up 1,000 m² with unreleased games and an appearance by Charles Martinet, the longtime voice of Mario. SEGA brings its biggest lineup at the fair, Square Enix has the first playable demo of Final Fantasy VII Revelation in Latin America, and Activision puts Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on 36 stations ahead of its October 23 launch.

Even so, trade coverage points to a shrinking show. The Gaming Era reports that the fair has been losing floor space, days, major sponsors and attractions. Attendance has dropped too: the organizers reported 306,798 visitors in 2025, down from 328,000 in 2023, and released no final total for 2024. Apart from Nintendo, the big console makers are largely absent from the show floor, and exhibiting at BGS is expensive at a time when companies are cutting marketing budgets.

Pichau builds its own house

Pichau is the most visible example of this shift. The Brazilian PC retailer attended BGS almost every year since 2016, with large booths and all-day activations. In 2026 it isn’t in São Paulo: it’s in Joinville, with the first Pichau Arena, October 10–12 at Joinville Square Garden.

The numbers are ambitious for a debut:

• more than 200 PCs for tournaments and free play;
• over R$160,000 in prizes across CS2, LoL, Street Fighter 6, EA Sports FC 27, Clash Royale and Assetto Corsa tournaments, plus cosplay and K-pop contests;
• booths from AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, MSI, Corsair, Gigabyte and other hardware makers;
• an expected 50,000 visitors over three days.

The dates overlap with BGS, but the company rejects the idea of competition. Speaking to The Gaming Era, CEO João Pichau called BGS a “long-time partner” and said “our audience is different.” According to him, Joinville was chosen because the South lacked a large-scale event, and the Children’s Day holiday so parents could bring their kids.

He also cited a business reason: running its own event brings “more results” for the company’s brands. Instead of renting space in someone else’s showcase, Pichau controls the audience, the schedule, the partners and the sales.

Gamescom Latam had already opened the door

Pichau didn’t pave this road alone. Since 2024, Gamescom Latam has competed with BGS for the title of Brazil’s biggest games fair, at the very same venue, Distrito Anhembi. Its 2026 edition, April 29 to May 3, set a record with 154,000 visitors, 17.5% more than the previous year, plus 175 exhibitors from 23 countries and more than 13,000 business meetings.

With one major fair in the first half of the year and another in the second, publishers started choosing where to invest. Many ended up prioritizing the one with Gamescom’s global brand and a strong business focus.

What it means for players

For the public, fragmentation cuts both ways.

The upside: more options, including outside São Paulo. People in southern Brazil no longer have to travel hundreds of kilometers for a major gaming event. Pichau Arena bets on playing and competing, while BGS remains the place for upcoming-release demos.

The downside: each event gets only a slice of the attractions. Anyone who wanted to see everything, from Nintendo’s releases to the PC tournaments and the CBLOL final, would need to be in three cities on the same weekend.

What about BGS?

It’s too early to declare the end of anything. BGS has historically drawn visitors from across the country, and Nintendo, SEGA, Square Enix and Activision are still betting on it. The question for 2027 isn’t whether BGS will exist, but what role it will play in a market where brands build their own stages and competition is no longer the exception.

One thing is already clear: in October 2026, BGS is no longer the only game in town.

Update (Oct 15, 2026): Pichau’s owner explains the exit

In a video posted by Portal Insider on Oct 14, João, Pichau’s owner, told streamer Bistecone why the brand swapped BGS for its own event: “BGS was getting really expensive for us. Really expensive.” He admits Pichau Arena is “a smaller event than BGS, of course,” but says the influencers who used to go to BGS now go with Pichau. Full story (in Portuguese), with a BGS vs. Gamescom price comparison.

Dono da Pichau explica por que saiu da BGS: “BGS tava custando muito caro pra gente, muito caro mesmo.”

— Portal Insider (@Portal_Insider) October 14, 2026

Update (Oct 15, 2026): BGS statement

On Oct 15, the BGS organizers sent SavePoint the statement below through their press office.

“BGS 2026 gave this year’s visitors four days packed with games, with 18 titles playable before release, hundreds of gaming stations and established industry brands such as Nintendo, SEGA, Square Enix, Activision, PlayStation Tournaments and Devolver Digital, among others. It also hosted 9 international guests – such as composer Shota Nakama with the Video Game Orchestra –, successful developers, thousands of accredited cosplayers and dozens of personalities for panels and meet & greet sessions.

Over its 17 editions, the event has lived through many changes in the market, the economy, consumer habits and brand strategies. Even so, it brought fans its best. The largest and most traditional games show in Latin America knows the game isn’t always easy, and that every challenge has to be faced to keep moving forward.

In 2027, the game goes on. From October 9 to 12, BGS will be held in São Paulo to bring gamers lots of games, quality attractions and new features designed by players for players. Whatever challenges the market presents, a passion for games is still what drives BGS, and the whole event team is already working to give the community an excellent event to meet, celebrate games and keep making history.

Tickets for next year’s edition are already on sale on the official BGS website.”

The statement was also published as a separate story: BGS sends statement to SavePoint, confirms 2027 edition for October 9–12.

Translated by SavePoint; the original statement is in Portuguese.

SavePoint has also reached out to Pichau for comment and will update this story if they respond.