NZ game Path of Exile launches in Brazil

A screenshot of the game Path of Exile.

The popular Kiwi video game Path of Exile has today announced a partnership to bring its acclaimed role playing game to fans in Brazil.

The deal will see the makers of Path of Exile, West Auckland-based Grinding Gear Games, team up with Brazilian company UOL BoaCompra, which specialises in "monetising" online games.

Path of Exile now has over 5.5 million players worldwide, more than 250,000 of whom are daily players, and this deal opens up new markets in Latin America for the game.

UOL is Brazil's largest internet company and content portal, and the exclusive deal will ensure local customer support, payment gateways, and marketing for Path of Exile in Latin America.

"UOL BoaCompra understands the Brazilian market very well and takes an innovative approach to deliver a high quality service to the Latin American community," Grinding Gear Games managing director, Chris Wilson said.

The Brazilian payments giant will also monetise the game throughout Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Turkey.

"We have an avid player base in Brazil, so we're excited to finally be able to deliver the full Path of Exile experience and introduce the game to a whole new audience," he added.

Wilson told the Herald last year the expansion of Path of Exile to non-western markets was a focus for the company, but finding local servers and affiliates was an issue they were working through.

The online PC action game uses what Grinding Gears Games calls "ethical microtransactions". The game is free-to-play, but not "pay-to-win", meaning purchases made by players in the game don't give an advantage, but rather allow them to customise characters and the experience.

Watch: Path of Exile's open beta trailer

UOL BoaCompra's head of global business development, Christian Borneman, says there is a rapidly growing gaming community excited about the arrival of Path of Exile.

"The game's features - the ability to trade, modify, build characters, and challenge one another - is a perfect fit for Brazilian gamers who strongly prefer games with unique and social strategies," Borneman said.

Path of Exile Fact box

* Global launch in October 2013
* Based in West Auckland with 55 staff members
* Number of users: Over 5.5 million players
* Daily active users: More than 250,000 players
* Named PC Game of the Year in 2013 by GameSpot