During the Brasil Game Show 2024 (BGS24) we had the opportunity to interview Joshua Kenneth, brand manager for Ubisoft’s Brawlhalla. We covered topics such as the esports scene, releases and partnerships. Stay tuned for more information on what we talked about with Joshua!
Check out our interview:
[O Megascópio]: Hi, my name is Renan from Megascópio and today we talk with Joshua Kenneth, brand manager of Brawlhalla, game from Ubisoft. The game is not new but it brings a new approach for Ubisoft games, for example, when you compare it to other titles with a free to play model, being cross-platform and with a huge competitive scenario. How do you see the reception from the players to this model compared with other games with a singleplayer model, for example?
[Joshua]: We have seen a lot of success with our free to play model. The game has been around for nearly nine years now, and it is hard to compare it to other models because they are all very specific with that type of game and with what the developer is trying to achieve with it. But for us, we love that being free to play allows us to be as open and accessible as possible to any type of person who wants to play the game. Anyone in every single platform, no matter how much money they have or wherever they’re from, they can play Brawlhalla with their friends. That means that if you’re on your phone you can play with your friend who’s on a Switch with no restriction. Your friend could be a country over and it won’t matter, you can still play with them. We found that, to put it shortly, it has been great for us.
[O Megascópio]: Here at BGS we have a lot of machines where you can play Brawlhalla and I saw that the game has a lot of content and a lot of heroes. With each season we saw more heroes coming to the game – how is the insertion of these heroes planned?
[Joshua]: Our Legends, which are our original characters, like King Zuva for example – who was just revealed and for the first time ever is playable here at BGS – with him it was a few months. We had a design phase early on, where it runs by the people it needs to run by in our team and then it gets the ‘go ahead’. We’re a pretty quick team, so from conception to end it is all very fast and thankfully we’re able to release so much content, King Zuva I think is our 64th Legend, so we’ve done it a few times. Our team has gotten very efficient at making these characters and making them fun and, as we get new people to develop Brawlhalla, we also get new and refreshing ideas as well from them. For crossover characters like Megaman, who we recently launched, those take a little bit longer because we are making sure, like in the case of Megaman, that the IP holders are happy with how he looks and with how everything is. We pride ourselves on being very friendly with the other companies we work with, so that takes a little bit longer but only to make sure that everyone is happy with how everything looks.
[O Megascópio]: Speaking a little more about characters, last February Brawlhalla had its first Brazilian character, Vivi. How do you see the feedback from the players when you add to the game characters like Vivi or King Zuva that have specific characteristics from some cultures?
[Joshua]: We get a lot of positivity from that. From Vivi more specifically, there was so much excitement around her and we were so happy to be able to give a character that feels representative of where someone lives or of what they know and see or even of what they look like, it’s really exciting for us. With Vivi, it was so much fun releasing her because when we showed her off, we were here and there were a lot of people saying “Oh, I know like five people named Vivi” or “I do capoeira” and “She looks like she’s from Bahia”, and that was really awesome. We even did some capoeira training for influencers in São Paulo actually, where we could learn the moves that Vivi does in the game. People really love when we hit those big cultural moments and have a cool character that is powerful and represents them, it’s great.
[O Megascópio]: You already talked a little about that, but I wanted to ask about the partnerships Brawlhalla does with IPs like Megaman, Star Wars and a lot other titles that bring more new characters for the game. With all these universes that you guys bring to Brawlhalla, is there one that you couldn’t bring yet that you wish you could in the future?
[Joshua]: That is so tough. I think if you had asked me that three years ago, I would have said Master Chief from Halo, but we kind of hit every major one I could have dreamt of. I am a big fan of Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Halo, Star Wars and Megaman obviously too. So, it’s kind hard for me to think of what am I missing for favorite characters for the game and it is the same for every crossover, you can point to any of these characters like John Cena or Shovel Knight and there is a developer in Brawlhalla who that is their favorite character, that’s what who they were dreaming with. That’s how all of our crossover characters are, it is always a character that we are excited about. So, for me personally, I don’t even know what I would want to do next because there were so many in there that it was a dream come true. I don’t even know what could even be next.
[O Megascópio]: I wanted to ask about the competitive scenario of Brawlhalla. The last year in the championship had a Brazilian final. How do you see that?
[Joshua]: The Brazilian community has been very acceptive and supportive of not only Brawlhalla but the Esports scene. As you said, the world champion is Brazilian and a lot of players that I like to watch like Fiend and Yuz are Brazilian. Speaking on behalf of Brawlhalla they have been so good at the game, it’s been so great to be part of that community and work with them.
[O Megascópio]: For next year, will Brawlhalla continue to invest in the competitive scenario?
[Joshua]: The mantra for Brawlhalla is, every single year, how can we improve, how can we get bigger? Not just for Esports but with the game as well. I can’t say if we’re going to have another tournament in Brazil like the one here at BGS, but we are going to continue working with our community, especially with our Brazilian community because of our world champion, to have them in our Esports because we have online tournaments that they have been great doing it. I can’t say if we are going to make another tournament in Brazil since we are American-based, but we are definitely not leaving Brazil behind.
