IanCognito Consulting
Latin America is not one games market
Deal advisory for publishers and investors in Latin American games. Market intelligence, studio diligence, and support through launch.
The Market
Growing market, stumbling success
41% growth in game spending outside China and the eight largest mature markets, 2021–2025.355M players across Latin America and the Caribbean.~1,800 active studios across the region.However, reliable public information on studios is scarce. Diligence built on regional generalizations produces bad shortlists and failed deals.Projects in the region tend to fail late. A team ships a strong vertical slice, wins festival awards, signs a letter of intent, then reaches launch with no marketing plan, no community, no live-ops schedule, and no budget left for polish or pivots. Completion-stage capital and senior commercial operators are scarce across Latin America. That scarcity kills otherwise viable projects.Sources: Matthew Ball / Epyllion, 2026; Inter-American Development Bank, 2025.
The Work
How an engagement runs
Most engagements move through five stages. Clients enter wherever their brief requires.1. Market Mapping. I map the countries, studios, service providers, and incentive programs relevant to your brief. You get an opportunity longlist scoped to your objectives.2. Studio Screening. I evaluate shipped work, team composition, leadership, business model, and current needs. Most candidates do not make the shortlist; the ones that do come with profiles and open questions.3. Commercial Assessment. I review the production plan, market position, financing needs, and management gaps, and I separate country risk from company risk. You get an assessment memo and specific risk flags.4. Introduction. When fit and timing line up, I prepare both sides before anyone gets on a call. You get a meeting where both parties already know why they are talking. I do not run mass outreach.5. Completion Support. After a deal closes, I help staff and structure what the project still lacks: go-to-market and community strategy, monetization and live-ops planning, production leadership, localization partners. The engagement runs until the project ships and its post-launch operations are stable.
Who I Work With
Publishers, investors, and studios
Publishers.
I find studios and development partners against a specific need: original IP, co-development, external production, or an early read on companies in a market you plan to enter.Investors.
I research the company itself: what the team has built, how the business earns, what it still lacks, and which risks belong to the country rather than the company.Studios.
I will occasionally take a unique studio client preparing for publisher or investor conversations. The work covers positioning, readiness, and identifying relevant counterparties.Potential conflicts are disclosed before any engagement begins.
About Ian Hunt
I spent nine years building SunSpear Games as President and COO. I helped grow the studio from 5 people to more than 60, co-led fundraising that secured over $9 million, and ran finance, hiring, investor relations, publishing, and external development for a long-term game production. Before SunSpear, I co-founded Authentic Cards, grew it past $1 million in annual revenue, and led its North American sales and marketing. I also ran Anvil Studios, a design consultancy, whose team became the foundation of SunSpear.I have attended more than 25 trade shows in roughly a dozen Latin American countries as a speaker, mentor, advisor, and buyer. Much of what I know about the region's studios comes from evaluating the studios in person.Latin America can produce far more globally significant studios and games than it does today. Iancognito exists to connect the region's talented teams with the capital and operating support they need to finish and sustain their projects.Contact[email protected]Based in the United States. Working throughout the Americas.