According to a new member survey from the New Zealand Game Developers Association, games developed in the country earned NZ$36 million last year, growing 86 per cent year-on-year, with NZ$31.4 million from exports of smartphone and online games.
“Gaming is now firmly established as one of the core sectors of New Zealand’s creative economy,” said NZGDA Chairman Stephen Knightly. “New Zealand studios are demonstrating sustainable growth and winning huge audiences globally in a highly competitive market.”
Employment in the sector also rose by 18 per cent from last year, to 448 full-time positions, though circa 44 per cent of surveyed studios claimed that skill shortages were restricting their ability to grow.
Leading NZ studios include online game developer Grinding Gear Games and smartphone developer PikPok. The survey was conducted with 33 NZGDA member studios for the year ending 31 March 2013, with 55 game releases in the period.
