Zenith’s Hiroshi on Brazil as Latin America’s Regulatory Blueprint – A Review

Focus Gaming News’ exclusive interview with Gustavo Hiroshi, business development manager at Zenith, examines how Brazil’s first year of regulated igaming is reshaping operator strategy across Latin America. Hiroshi argues that Brazil is no longer treated as a standalone market but as the gateway to the region, with performance data from Brazil now informing content decisions in Colombia, Peru and Mexico.

The piece is most useful in its blunt assessment of what regulation actually demands. Hiroshi describes a market that became “far more complex, far more expensive and far more demanding almost overnight”, and flags that Brazil’s post-licensing rule changes and uneven enforcement have taught operators to build for uncertainty. One of the more striking points is his admission that many companies are initially testing new LatAm markets through unlicensed operations before committing to regulated launches — a pragmatic but risky workaround that reflects how costly premature entry has become.

For industry professionals, the interview reinforces a broader shift: the “move fast and fix it later” era for Latin America is over, and compliance and localisation now sit at the centre of market-entry strategy. It also suggests Brazil is functioning as a live blueprint for other regulators in the region, which makes Zenith’s positioning as the infrastructure layer supporting cross-market entry worth watching. The piece is vendor-aligned, but the strategic signals it sends about market timing and regulatory risk are relevant well beyond any single supplier’s pitch.

Read the full Focus Gaming News interview for Hiroshi’s complete take on Brazil’s influence and the practical lessons operators are applying across Latin America.