In New Zealand, 67% of the population play video games, 46% of video game players are female and the average age of a video game player is 34. New Zealanders spend an average of 88 minutes a day playing video games. As of 31 March 2020, the New Zealand video game development industry employed 747 full-time game developers and New Zealand studios earned $323.9 million in revenue, of which 96% came from international audiences. In addition, New Zealand consumers spent $501.4m on video games in 2019. Despite the difference in population size, New Zealand game development is comparable to Australia's, in terms of revenue and employment. Industry bodies for video games in New Zealand include the New Zealand Game Developers Association, which supports video game developers, and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, which represents publishers and platforms.

History

New Zealand was an early adopter of the video game phenomenon, despite its remoteness. Many Atari 2600 titles were assembled under licence by Monaco Distributors in Auckland. New Zealand developed its own

Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Al ...

-style game console, the Sportronic, in the late 1970s, as a result of import licensing laws. The development of games in New Zealand was continued in the 1980s and 90s. Notable games include '' Laser Hawk'', which was developed for the Atari 8-bit in 1986 by Andrew Bradfield and Harvey Kong Tin, and ''

Super Skidmarks ''Super Skidmarks'' is a racing video game developed by Acid Software and released in 1995. The game is the sequel to '' Skidmarks'' and as such was also termed ''Skidmarks 2'' and ''Super Skidmarks 2'' by commentators. The game features “mini ...

'', which was released for the

Commodore Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

in 1995 and was developed by Auckland-based company Acid Software.

Major companies and global recognition

Although a minor player in the global video gaming industry, New Zealand has had success with homegrown game developers. Sidhe, the largest game studio in New Zealand, have developed a number of sports games, including several titles in the

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

series. Dinosaur Polo Club developed '' Mini Metro''. The action RPG ''

Path of Exile ''Path of Exile'' is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. Following an open beta phase, the game was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2013. A version for Xbox One was released i ...

'', perhaps the best-known New Zealand game, was developed by

Grinding Gear Games Grinding Gear Games (abb. GGG) is a New Zealand video game developer company founded in 2006 and based in Auckland. A former independent developer, the studio was acquired by Chinese tech company Tencent in May 2018, after the Chinese company had ...

and released in 2013, enjoying international success. The video game series Bloons was made by the New Zealand company Ninja Kiwi. The New Zealand Game Developers Association was formed in 2001 to support the development of games in New Zealand.

Events and exhibitions

The New Zealand Game Developers Conference is held annually. The New Zealand Games Festival is held in Wellington around Easter each year and includes several events including the Play By Play conference and The Pavs, the New Zealand Games Awards. There are many regular Meetups in cities nationwide. The Game Masters exhibition was held at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa from 15 December 2012 through to 28 April 2013. The Arcade:Homegrown Video Games exhibition was held at

Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 20 ...

from 10 Nov 2012 – 24 Feb 2013 and then toured nationally.

Independent scene

The rise of digital platforms has seen independent studios publish video games worldwide, including Rainbite and Screenshock Games, each consisting of developers trained at Media Design School in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

Controversies

In 2003, ''

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'' became the first video game officially banned in New Zealand.

Video Game Development

Game developers from New Zealand

* A44 Games * Balancing Monkey Games * Black Salt Games * Camshaft Software LTD * Code Force Limited * Cosmink * Hyporeal Ltd *

Metia Interactive Metia Interactive is a game development studio based in Auckland, New Zealand. They are a member of the NZGDA. Metia Interactive specialises in designing and creating game art assets, including modelling and texturing, as well as pre-rendered and ...

* Morepork Games * Mune Studio * Ninja Kiwi * RageQuit Studios (Not the same as Polish dev Rage Quit Games) * Rainbite * retna studios * RiffRaff Games (Prior name 'Studio Mayday' 2019 till 2022) * Shoggoth Games * StaplesVR (AR/VR experiences, training & games; apps) * Trigger Happy Interactive * Weathership Ltd * Wētā Workshop (Game studio)

Misc Games

* 2UP Games (Mobile games. Investment from

Supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms ( ...

.) * Beyond Studio (VR & mobile games) * CerebralFix Limited (Mobile, online & VR/AR games; apps; art co-production) * GEO AR Games (AR games) *

(Online games) * Mad Carnival Games (Founded by co-founder of Method Studios & M-Theory. Online games.) * Media Design School (Educational institution with game developments) * Method Studios (Interactive entertainment, AR/VR, motion control games) * Mighty Eyes (Merger of M-Theory & Oddboy. AR/VR games.) ** M-Theory (AR/VR, games, apps. Setup by founders of Method Studios.) ** Oddboy (AR/VR games & experiences) * RUSH Digital Interactive (Interactive experiences, imagery, AI, UI design, apps. No games.) * Swibo Ltd (Fitness technology)

Co-Development Services

* InGame (Interactive training, edutainment, VR sims, film & TV transmedia, gamification) * Second Intention (Code polish, art production)

Defunct video game companies of New Zealand

* AlphaSim (Founded 1999. Defunct 2010. Sim addons dev.) * Starcolt Studios Ltd (Founded 2018. Probably defunct in 2022.) * Stickmen Studios (Founded 2006. Absorbed into CerebralFix Limited in 2016. Online games.) * Straylight Studios (Founded 2004. Defunct 2009. Edutainment.)

Video game publishers of New Zealand

* JaffaJam (Mobile games) * MYTONA (Singaporean. NZ office.) * Prodigy Design Limited (Holding group) **

PikPok PikPok is a New Zealand video game developer and publisher based in Wellington. It was founded as a subsidiary brand of the game developer Sidhe. Since 2012, PikPok has been the company's primary brand. PikPok is a developer and publisher of i ...

/ Sidhe Interactive * Synty Studios (Art assets publisher)

Publisher & developer firms

* Astronaut Diaries Limited * Atawhai Interactive * Bardsley Creative * Cloak and Dagger Games (Based in UK. Remote work.) * Delphinium Games * Deep Field Games * Digital Confectioners (Online games) * Dinosaur Polo Club * Dry Cactus Games * ENDESGA * Esenthel (Open-source engine creation) * Flightless Studios * Gaugepunk Games (VR & sim games) * Hashbane Interactive * Irreflex Studios * It’s Anecdotal * Kreg (Online games) * Mainframe Games (Not the same as Nordic dev 'Mainframe Industries') * Majic Jungle * Many Worlds Limited (AR/VR, MR, app, web & games development. Also co-devs.) * Mental Drink Ltd * Outerdawn (Prior name 'Artrix' in 2014 till 2020) * Phat Loot Studios (Online games) * Rexoto Games * Rocketwerkz * Runaway Play (Mobile games) * Sky Bear Games * Space Crab Labs * Spotted Kiwi Interactive (Online games) * Thousand Tonic * Undermog Games * Usual Suspects Studios * Wicked Art Studios * Wildboy Studios

References

External links

New Zealand Game Developers Association

More than a Craze: Photographs of New Zealand's early digital games scene

''Early Games Production in New Zealand'', Melanie Swalwell, 2005

WellPlayed's tag list
(For New Zealand-made games. WellPlayed is an Australian gaming media outlet with a focus on AU/NZ games.)
New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE) news page
(Regular updates of new game developers & funding are available here) {{DEFAULTSORT:Video games in In New Zealand