Do you or your company operate in the electronic games’ market? If so, be aware of the new law that establishes the legal framework for electronic games in Brazil, which is already in force with a robust set of rules for compliance and protection of the rights of children and adolescents, including a reporting channel, provision of sanctions, review of terms of use, parental moderation, among others. People and companies operating in the games market will need to adapt to the new law in order to be compliant. See below a summary of Law 14,852/2024.
Following the growing games market, the Brazilian Government established, through Law 14,852/2024, published on May 6, 2024, the legal framework for the electronic games industry, applicable to manufacturing, import, marketing, development, and commercial use of electronic games. The new law establishes principles and guidelines for the use of electronic games, among which the full protection of children and adolescents, conservation of privacy, protection of personal data, informational self-determination, and consumer protection stand out. This law also included, in art. 2, VI of the Industrial Property Law (Law 9,279/1996), the “granting of registration for electronic games.”
It is important to consider the definition of the law, according to which electronic game is considered to be:
- the interactive audiovisual work developed as a computer program, as defined in Law 9,609/1998, in which the images are changed in real time based on the player’s actions and interactions with the interface;
- the central device and accessories, for private or commercial use, especially dedicated to running electronic games;
- software for use as a cell phone and/or website application, console games and games of virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and extended reality, consumed through download or streaming.
Law 14,852/2024 prohibits companies and professionals involved in the production or distribution of other types of games, to which this law does not apply, from benefiting from it. The games out of scope are:
- Commercial promotions or lottery modalities governed by Law 13,756/2018 (federal lottery, prediction lotteries, Lotex) and by Law 14,790/2023 (fixed-odds betting);
- Games that offer some type of bet, with prizes in real or virtual assets;
- Games involving random or predictive results.
Professionals in the area of electronic games, defined below, will not be required to have special qualifications or licenses from the State to practice their professions. However, support is expected for the training of human resources and training spaces, including the creation of technological and higher education programs focused on electronic games. These are the professionals exempt from qualification and license:
- Visual artist for games: professional specialized in creating static and/or dynamic visual elements for electronic games;
- Audio artist for games: professional specialized in conceiving, designing, developing, and implementing sound elements for electronic games;
- Game narrative designer: professional specialized in conceiving, designing, developing, and implementing the narrative, story, and narrative structure of electronic games;
- Game designer: professional specialized in conceiving, designing, correcting, balancing, improving, and expanding the interactive experience of electronic games;
- Game programmer: professional specialized in developing the logic and code that allow electronic games to function;
- Game tester: professional specialized in testing and evaluating electronic games under development, in order to identify failures or bottlenecks during the game session and other possible defects;
- Game producer: professional specialized in leading and supervising the development of electronic games, from conception to launch.
Promotion
Both the Audiovisual Law (Law 8,685/1993) and the Rouanet Law (Law 8,313/1991) apply to the development of electronic games, now considered a “cultural segment.” Investment in electronic game development is now considered investment in research, development, innovation, and culture. IBGE might make a specific CNAE code available for companies that develop electronic games.
Special treatment for the promotion of electronic games can be granted to individual entrepreneurs, general partnerships, and MEIs, as well as to companies and cooperatives with annual gross revenue of up to BRL 16 million in the previous calendar year. The criteria for this treatment are:
(i) use of innovative model to generate products or services; or
(ii) inclusion in the special Inova Simples regime.
Main points of protection for children and adolescents:
There must be prior age classification by the State, considering risks related to the use of microtransaction mechanisms (in-game purchases).
Electronic games aimed at children and adolescents that allow interaction between users (text, audio, video messages or content exchange, whether synchronous or asynchronous) are subject to minimum requirements to safeguard the rights of this audience:
- Complaints and reporting channel for abuses and irregularities by users;
- Reply to complainants, within a reasonable period of time, about the results of their complaints;
- Means to request the review of decision and reversal of penalties;
- Social transparency regarding the number of complaints and categories of violations; methods used to analyze reports, removal of content and management of communities; sanctions to be applied to violators, including measures to prevent banned users from creating additional accounts; educational actions, actions to raise awareness and promote fundamental rights;
- Terms of use that prohibit practices, exchanges, and interactions that violate the rights of children and adolescents;
- Update and maintenance of parental supervision and moderation tools;
- Transparency, update, and continuous improvements of mechanisms for protection against the risk of contact with other users, with the possibility of deactivating interaction mechanisms;
- Information in Portuguese and in simple, easy-to-understand language for adolescents, children, and guardians.
Some of the items pending regulation are:
- Customs clearance and import taxes aligned with promotion of innovation for companies developing electronic games;
- The use of electronic games for therapeutic purposes and for communication and advertising purposes, it being understood that the latter must, in any case, comply with Law 8,069/1990 (Statute of the Child and Adolescent).
The Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) team of Azevedo Sette Advogados follows the development of the topic and is available for questions and contributions.