Having officially expanded our São Paulo presence with a brand new studio, we’re excited to share more about our São Paulo team!
Meet João Menezes, our Studio Head for Side São Paulo. With extensive experience in the gaming industry, João brings a wealth of knowledge and strategic insights to our global business. We sat down with him to get to know more about his career thus far, his vision for the studio, and the exciting journey ahead for our new studio in Brazil.
Tell us about your background and what drew you to a career in video games and studio management.
I’ve been playing games since I was a kid. My first game was Pac-Man, on Atari! Which I played with my mom—she wasn’t so great, so I got to win a lot. After the Atari, I got a Sega Genesis, where I was introduced to Street Fighter and Sonic, two of my favorite games to this day.
My love for gaming just grew with me. As I got older, I went through consoles such as the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and PCs. At this point, I never even dreamed I could work in games, and my parents were quite traditional when it came to career choice, which is how I ended up in law. I practiced as a lawyer in Brazil for nearly ten years before leaving the country.
From there, I travelled a little but ended up in the UK working on Sony’s Localization QA team. After getting the job, I quickly built up to vendor management there and finally joined Side as Studio Head in São Paulo.
How did you land your first job in the gaming industry? How challenging was it to break in?
To me the gaming industry was exclusive—a world only accessible to people with prior connections. It was actually my then-girlfriend, now wife, that sent me the application for my first gaming job. I was convinced that it was a scam! But sure enough, I got the job, which was based in Liverpool, and the rest is history.
I remember my first day at Sony well: I saw the word “build” and was confused because I associated the word with construction and thought, but we are not building anything here! The nuances of language are so critical in QA and Localization work—we actually ended up creating a games glossary to help people understand those crossover words.
Can you describe your current role at Side São Paulo?
As Studio Head, my main task is to keep the studio on track. That means giving our fantastic team what they need to be successful. I make sure that they have the proper training, guidance, and tools to do the great work they do.
I also make sure that our projects are on track—both from a commercial perspective, and from a quality perspective for our partners (once a QA tester, always a QA tester). It’s a fantastic role that looks different every day. On Monday, I might be showing one of our partners around the studio and working with them to tailor the space to the needs of their project. On Tuesday, I might be sitting in with the team, working through logistics to make sure delivery is seamless.
The best bit about being Studio Head is getting to work with so many teams. As well as our Codev, Localization, Localization QA and QA teams, I get to work closely with our business development team too. Despite only being in São Paulo for two years, we have grown very quickly and secured a pretty impressive amount of QA work in particular. We are big collaborators with the wider business, so I help our team to identify projects based out of Europe or Asia where we might be able to help too.
What makes Side São Paulo unique? What are its strengths?
Definitely our people! We love to welcome colleagues from elsewhere in the company, along with clients, to share our amazing skyline view wherever we can.
Growing up in Brazil doesn’t come without its challenges, but we are a very resilient people who are ambitious and competent problem solvers. You will always get a warm welcome at Side São Paulo, from a very skilled and talented team.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced over your time in the industry, and what have you seen change?
As far as the industry is concerned, it runs in cycles. There are times where lots of titles are coming, and then there are more challenging periods like now where everyone is feeling the pinch. It’s hard, especially when you see old colleagues and friends who aren’t in the industry anymore. We just have to be persistent in times like these and try our best, it’s all we can do.
I think the biggest change I have seen so far, and probably for most people who joined the industry when I did, is AI. It’s quickly making its way into everything we do, but this means we are constantly innovating—it’s a good challenge to have.
If you had to give your younger self some advice before starting in this industry, what would it be?
Follow your heart! Go steady, and my parents probably can’t believe I am saying it, but play more games. Throw yourself into technology—you don’t need to be a coder to get into gaming, but being tech literate is a major plus for employers.
What are your goals and vision for Side São Paulo?
For Side São Paulo, my immediate goal is to bring more diversity to the team. I want to encourage more women into the gaming sector and increase our team size overall. We have a fantastic group here who are dedicated to hosting guests and events to celebrate women in the industry, and I am really looking forward to supporting that more this year.
My goal is not to get an arcade installed in the cafeteria… because we have already achieved this goal!
For a closer look at our new Side São Paulo studio, check out our reel below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDOHSS-lYEU