Investors and publishers shared their pitching guidance with developers at Gamescom Latam, in a session covered by Game Developer that lays out how funding decision-makers on the ground evaluate studios approaching them for capital or publishing deals.

The panel format put money-side representatives directly in front of developers at the São Paulo event, one of the fastest-growing industry gatherings in Latin America. For regional studios, sessions like this one are a rare chance to hear publishers and investors describe their own selection criteria rather than relying on second-hand advice.

Why does pitching guidance matter right now?

Latin America's development scene has expanded steadily over the past several years, and Gamescom Latam has positioned itself as the regional counterpart to the Cologne flagship. As more studios in the region seek publishing deals and venture funding, the gap between how developers present their projects and how investors actually screen them determines which teams get signed.

Pitching advice from the funding side typically covers the practical filters that decide whether a deck survives a first read:

• What stage the project must reach before outside capital makes sense
• Which metrics and milestones publishers expect to see, beyond a playable build
• How teams should present budget, timeline and scope realism
• Where studios commonly lose investor confidence in the deck itself
• How to tailor the approach depending on whether the target is a publisher or a fund

Game Developer's report from the session captures the specific recommendations the panelists gave on each of these fronts, in their own terms.

What changes for studios?

The operational takeaway for developers is straightforward: pitching is a skill with concrete, testable components, and the people allocating capital are willing to state publicly what they look for. Studios preparing funding rounds or publishing negotiations can benchmark their current materials against the criteria the panelists described before sending them out.

For publishers and investors active in the region, events like this also function as pipeline-building. Making selection criteria public at a regional show signals which categories of projects the money side wants to see more of from Latin American teams — useful information for studios deciding what to greenlight next.

What to watch next

Gamescom Latam returns as an annual fixture, and the investor-and-publisher track is likely to remain part of the program. Studios that did not attend can expect the guidance from this session to shape how regional decks are evaluated in the coming funding cycle — and whether publishers expand their Latin American signing activity will be a market signal worth tracking through next year's event.