Sportia's Matheus Vivian talks about the upcoming mobile release, and a secret new project

• Whilst at Gamescom 2026, I encountered a former interviewee from Gamescom LatAm
• And Matheus Vivian, a former professional footballer, hinted at big things for Sportia devs Hermit Crab Games
• That includes a mobile launch for Sportia and a mystery mobile project with a major IP

If you read my coverage of Gamescom LatAm earlier this year, you may remember me chatting with Matheus Vivian of Hermit Crab Studios about the developer's upcoming release, Sportia. And while Sportia only had a brief stint on mobile, when I spoke to Matheus at Gamescom in Cologne, he hinted at some major things coming to mobile.

Now, obviously he wasn't at liberty to disclose anything. But suffice it to say, the impression I had is that this will be a major release for mobile. We also got to chat about a few other topics, including how Gamescom 2026 compares to LatAm, so read on and find out more!

So, Matheus, I think the most obvious question to ask since we last saw one another: how does Gamescom 2026 compare to the LatAm edition of the event?

I think that Gamescom Latam improved a lot, [but it is not quite at the level of] the opportunities that you can find here in Gamescom Germany. Because here we can really meet the whole industry, all the big stakeholders, and try to show what's happening in LatAm, our products, our services, and our studios.

So it's really a huge opportunity to show that Brazil are always improving their skills, their studios and their quality in terms of gaming.

So has the reception towards the Brazilian exhibitors gone well here?

Very, very well. I think that, especially today, we are entering this AA space, with the whole transformation that's happened, [and] creativity has become really an important element in the game industry. And especially for Brazil, we are very strong; we have a creative industry, and I think the opportunity to be very present and to be very relevant for the next step [in the industry].

So the whole of the industry is looking for the next step and trying to find some ways to change maybe their business or only to take new opportunities, and I think that Brazil is really considered the pipeline for many big companies and countries.

And to wrap up this conversation, you guys released Sportia's football mode briefly on the App Store. But you've told me there's something much bigger coming to mobile, which you can't reveal in full just yet?

Mobile is our main platform. The studio has always developed on mobile, and that's the platform [on which] we have a really huge number of players.

We have a deal with a big IP that you'll probably see launch in October-November. Which is a new mobile game that's a full branded translation of a great IP in the football space [for mobile]. And for Sportia, we have the full mobile version, which will be ready for next year.

It certainly sounds as though Hermit Crab Games will, whether it's this mystery project or Sportia, have a major new presence on mobile soon. What might that be? Well, I have an idea, but I'll keep my cards close to my chest on that one.

If you haven't already, why not take a look into the past and see my coverage of Gamescom LatAm, including all the great releases featured at the AbraGames booth? Or dig into my coverage of Gamescom 2026's top games such as Silver Palace and Honkai: Nexus Anima!