- NZGDA


2023 Digital Skills survey
12 January 2023

The digital technology sector in Aotearoa is one of the fastest growing segments of our economy and has been a critical source of domestic economic growth. Given the pace of change internationally and the competition globally for those with technology skills, growing and upskilling the technology workforce is an urgent priority. We are now calling […]

NZGDA and the US Embassy Partner for Game Jam Focused on Social Change
8 December 2022

What do Game Developers do over a weekend to help discuss & combat disinformation and online bullying?  A game jam – an event where participants work in teams to attempt to make a game from scratch over a 48-hour period. Embassy Wellington was proud to partner with the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA ) to […]

The 2023 NZGDA Executive Board
25 November 2022

The results of the 2023 Executive Board Elections were announced last night at the 2023 Annual General Meeting! You can learn more about the board members here.

Introducing Koia Jam: Aotearoa’s values and principles driven game-jam
15 November 2022

The New Zealand Game Developers Association and the US Mission to Aotearoa New Zealand are partnering together to create Koia Jam, a game jam competition devised to stimulate New Zealand to think about anti-bullying, anti-harassment, and anti-disinformation online. While there are long-standing policies, infrastructure, and regulations in place to ensure the safety of children on […]

Free Workshop in Virtual Production on November 26th!

The NZGDA invites applications to attend a free workshop on virtual production with international DP Mike Berlucchi on the set of ‘Our Flag Means Death‘, in Auckland on Saturday 26 November The workshop will provide the opportunity to learn all about Virtual Production on a significant scale, from expert technicians engaged on an actual working […]

Introducing the 2022/2023 Executive Board Nominees!
7 November 2022

We are pleased to introduce the nominees for the 2022/2023 NZGDA Executive Board! Below you will find information on each candidate (these bios are also available as a PDF: 2022/2023 Candidate Election Bios). Ballots will be emailed to all eligible NZGDA members on Tuesday November 8th at 9:00AM and voting will remain open until November 18th […]

NZGDA Board Elections 2022 and the Annual General Meeting!
10 October 2022

Are you a community minded game developer who wants to grow New Zealand’s game development sector? Then consider standing for the 2021/2022 New Zealand Game Developers Association board! The NZGDA welcomes diverse candidates from across New Zealand, in any role in the industry or craft who are current members of the Association. Some of the […]

NZGDA calls upon Government to support NZ’s Screen and Interactive Sector
29 August 2022

Chelsea Rapp, Chairperson, NZ Game Developers Association Over the last few months the NZGDA has been talking with the Government to respond to aggressive Australian incentives, which threaten to halt the growth of NZ’s interactive screen and game development sector, and to introduce an industry development plan. We’ve met with Hon Dr David Clark, Minister […]

Rare Parrot Games’ Warrior Chef becomes the recipe for Kiwi Game Starter success
25 August 2022

This Article was wirtten by the University of Canterbury, click here for the original source. At an event celebrating the conclusion of the New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA) Conference last week, Rare Parrot Games’ Warrior Chef was announced the winner of the organisation’s 2022 Kiwi Game Starter Competition. Proudly sponsored by the University of […]

M Theory and Oddboy merge to form Mighty Eyes
4 August 2022

Two become one VR powerhouse as M Theory and Oddboy merge to form Mighty Eyes! The two companies behind the acclaimed game Wanderer have officially joined forces to become Mighty Eyes. Based in Aotearoa (New Zealand), M Theory and Oddboy came together in 2016 to develop VR time travel adventure game Wanderer which took the […]

2022 Kiwi Game Starter Final Judges
12 July 2022

Last month, our industry Selection Judges had the difficult task of whittling this year’s Kiwi Game Starter entrants down to just three finalists. Now that the final round of judging commences, we thought we’d get to know the experts who make up the 2022 Kiwi Game Starter Final Judging Panel:   Andy Phelps, University of […]

2022 Kiwi Game Starter Finalists Announced
22 June 2022

Three finalists spots go to Out of Sight, Undeadly, and Warrior Chef

PikPok celebrates 25 years!
16 June 2022

“We started with just three of us in a flat in Lower Hutt, and we’ve grown it to a company that earns tens of millions of dollars and creates hundreds of jobs.”    PikPok – the globally renowned studio that has been delighting players with compelling gameplay, evocative art, and immersive audio design since 1997 […]

NZGDC22: What You Need to Know… Now!
19 May 2022

Our annual New Zealand Game Developers Conference is back and better than ever!  We’re planning an in-person event that will mark the “coming back together” of our community after some pretty turbulent Covid times for everyone. With support from our core partners Wellington NZ and Wellington City Council plus Platinum sponsors Epic, Hublix and Tourism […]

Mini Motorways Launches On The Nintendo Switch!
12 May 2022

via Surprise Launch in Indie World Showcase! Mini Motorways, the minimalist strategy traffic management sim with over four million players from developer Dinosaur Polo Club, revs its engine to reveal the highly-anticipated Nintendo Switch system launch during today’s Indie World Showcase. The “Night Lights” update will simultaneously land on Apple Arcade and Steam, featuring more […]