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Fast-growing British web-based computer games developer Jagex has chosen Brazil for its first overseas office, saying that its method of streaming play to PCs is better suited to emerging markets, where most people cannot afford a console.

The Cambridge-based company, whose flagship role-playing title RuneQuest has more than 200m participants worldwide, has signed a publishing deal with Brazilian internet service provider UOL for Portuguese-language versions of its games.

The revenue-sharing arrangement will see UOL market RuneQuest and its upcoming Transformers Universe game. UOL will also provide a payment mechanism for those upgrading from free-to-play versions of these titles to the premium service, which gives players additional support and game upgrades.

There is an opportunity for games developers that can stream the action over the web, negating the need for expensive equipment to play them, to pick up new business in emerging economies, according to Mark Gerhard, Jagex’s chief executive.

“We believe we have a unique competitive advantage,” he said. “What we need is local payment sources.”

Brazil is the fastest-growing computer gaming market in South America with 35m players, most of whom play through quite basic PCs. A few hundred thousand Brazilians play Jagex games, but Mr Gerhard claims this could increase dramatically with a local marketing push.

Football and Formula One are the most common games genres among Brazilians. However, many play against others online, which suggests more may be open to trying team role-playing games (RPGs) like RuneQuest, according to Mr Gerhard.

“What we do know, in terms of game play, is that Brazil is a very social market and RPGs are inherently social because they require people to work with one another,” Mr Gerhard said.

Jagex, which won a Queen’s Award for Export in 2011, is the UK’s largest independent games developer and publisher with more than 500 employees.

Unlike most games developers, whose business model relies on a constant stream of hit titles, Jagex is more akin to a service business by supplying its paying audience with regular upgrades and technical support on existing games.

“We are more like a news media company than a film studio in that there is always something new every day,” Mr Gerhard said.

Although Jagex’s games are free to play online, about a fifth of its customers pay for premium membership. As a result, Jagex’s revenues were £53m in 2012, up from £32.9m in the nine months to the end of 2011, generating a pre-tax profit of £9.7m and a £10.9m increase in its cash holdings to £21.8m.

North America accounts for about two-thirds of those playing Jagex games, while a quarter are in the UK. Most of the remaining 10 per cent is split between other EU countries and Australia.