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 The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) is the industry association for computer and video games in Australia and New Zealand. The IGEA represents companies that are publishers, distributors and marketers of interactive enterta ...

, 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-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 ''Laser Hawk'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter published for Atari 8-bit computers by UK-based Red Rat Software. It was created in Dunedin, New Zealand by programmer Andrew Bradfield Andrew "Andy" Bradfield (1966 – 21 September 2001) ...

'', which was developed for the

Atari 8-bit The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

in 1986 by

Andrew Bradfield Andrew "Andy" Bradfield (1966 – 21 September 2001) was a video game programmer from New Zealand best known for his work on games for the Atari 8-bit computers. He created ''Laser Hawk'' (1986) and its sequel ''Hawkquest'' (1989). He teamed wit ...

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 “minim ...

'', which was released for the Commodore Amiga 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 A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...

, 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 112 ...

series. Dinosaur Polo Club developed '' Mini Metro''. The action RPG '' Path of Exile'', 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 ''Bloons'' is a video game franchise developed by Ninja Kiwi. The games involve players using monkeys, armed with various weapons, to pop as many "bloons" (balloons) as possible. They include the ''Bloons'' series, the ''Bloons Tower Defense'' ...

was made by the New Zealand company

Ninja Kiwi Ninja Kiwi, previously known as Kaiparasoft Ltd, is a mobile and online video game developer founded in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2006 by brothers Chris and Stephen Harris. Ninja Kiwi's first game was a browser based game called ''Cash Sprint'' ...

. 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 A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are ...

exhibition was held at the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

from 15 December 2012 through to 28 April 2013. The Arcade:Homegrown Video Games exhibition was held at Dowse Art Museum 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 Media Design School is a private tertiary institution that provides specialist industry training in 3D animation and visual effects, game art, game programming, graphic and motion design, digital media artificial intelligence, and creative advert ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Controversies

In 2003, ''

Manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

'' 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 * Morepork Games * Mune Studio *

* 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 Wētā Workshop is a special effects and prop company based in Miramar, Wellington, in New Zealand, that produces effects for television and film. The company is the mascot named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insect ...

(Game studio)

Misc Games

* 2UP Games (Mobile games. Investment from Supercell.) * 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.) *

(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 Wound healing refers to a living organism's replacement of destroyed or damaged tissue by newly produced tissue. In undamaged skin, the epidermis (surface, epithelial layer) and dermis (deeper, connective layer) form a protective barrier agains ...

(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 Straylight Studios was a game development studio based in Dunedin, New Zealand, active from March 2004 to March 2009. Straylight's focus was on the application of " meaningful play", a term coined by CEO Timothy Nixon to describe play that borrow ...

(Founded 2004. Defunct 2009. Edutainment.)

Video game publishers of New Zealand

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

Sidhe Interactive Sidhe (formerly Sidhe Interactive until 2009) is a New Zealand video game company headquartered in Wellington, and a co-founding member of the New Zealand Game Developers Association and the New Zealand Institute of Screen Innovation. Sidhe has ...

* 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