Membership FAQs
The NZGDA is an association that represents the interests of the game development industry in New Zealand.
By becoming a member of NZGDA, you will have access to a range of resources and services that can help you advance your career in the game development industry. You will also be supporting the advocacy work that NZGDA does on behalf of the industry.
The NZGDA supports the industry in a variety of ways, including organising events and workshops, advocating for policies that benefit the industry, and providing resources and services to its members.
Q: How does the pricing structure work?
Our membership pricing offers flexible options for students, individuals and businesses alike. With a tiered pricing structure, you can choose the level that best fits your needs and organisation size. Each tier offers a different set of benefits, including access to exclusive events, networking opportunities, and educational resources.
Q: How does the tier structure work?
| Member Category | Headcount Criteria | Annual Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 Studio | > 100 | $12,000 |
| Tier 2 Studio | 51 – 100 | $9,000 |
| Tier 3 Studio | 21 – 50 | $6,000 |
| Tier 4 Studio | 11 – 20 | $3,000 |
| Tier 5 Studio | 4 – 10 | $1,000 |
| Tier 6 Studio | 1 – 3 | $250 |
| Government (Ministry/Department, Agency, etc.) | N/A | $3,000 |
| Industry-adjacent businesses & partners | N/A | $2,000 |
| Education (University, Polytech, etc.) | N/A | $1,000 |
| Individual | N/A | $75 |
| Students | N/A | $20 |
We have chosen a ‘headcount’ model. This is primarily because the support we intend to deliver in the next few years focuses on people as individuals – the development of personal careers and new small businesses, or listening and lobbying on behalf of leaders in our larger businesses.
The tier costings represent a significant investment by some of our most successful studios, who have wholeheartedly signed up in a bid to support the wider ecosystem with the hopes of growing our industry further.
Q: Do I need to pay as an individual if my workplace is a studio member?
No, as studio and partner memberships are based on headcount, Membership Agreements give every staff member in that business an equivalent individual membership. This means that as a staff member, you are signed up to the codes of conduct that are contained within the organisation’s membership agreement with us, so make sure you read it!
You will be able to use your own login details to access member-only channels or resources.
Q: What if I can’t afford to pay?
As our most successful studios are paying significantly more in fees than individual members, this gives us the opportunity to offer scholarships to people in need who would otherwise feel excluded or underrepresented.
We recognise the financial constraints felt more acutely by those who are starting, and growing, their projects or businesses.
Our newsletter will remain open to subscribers this year and, while it is a resource-intensive piece of work each month, it is value we want to give to the community for free. There will likely be additional email communications to members-only.
Contact us if you need to discuss your membership fees.
Q: Why are students not free?
When you sign up to be a member of a professional membership body, NZGDA makes a commitment to serve you. This includes consulting with you regularly, agreeing new initiatives or investments, and feeding back your needs in our lobbying messages to government.
A small commitment ($20/year) ensure sthat those student members who do sign up are committed and likely to be active and valuable members of our community. Those who do not sign up can still subscribe to the newsletter, attend events and conferences, etc.
Q: Can non-members still attend NZGDC?
Yes, members receive a ticket price discount and may hear about events sooner, but non-members will continue to have the opportunity to buy full price tickets to our events.
Q: What if I don’t work in the industry but I hope to eventually?
Naturally, industry membership associations such as ours – whose main goals involve industry growth – tend to serve more the interests of those who already work in, or with, our industry. Hobbyists may not often feel they would gain as much value from such a membership.
However there are points at which member benefits may become more relevant, for example:
- You have reached the point of full prototype of a game in your spare time, and are ready to enter Kiwi Game Starter and to invest more in bringing a product to market
- You have graduated from a course of study and are ready to apply for jobs on the jobs board
- You are applying for a grant to start a studio and would benefit from HR advice, Amazon Web Server credits, contract templates, or the peer support of other business owners in the studio managers Slack channel
Q: Will my voice still be heard if I am not a paying member?
While an organisation of our scale will inevitably fail to fully support every single person with every type of need or goal, we believe that each individual is on their own journey and those myriad journeys make up our ecosystem. This makes each member important and we hope to find ways and means to ensure we understand and represent as many of them as possible.
We already have a lot of channels through which we regularly receive valuable feedback and insights including social media, webinar Q&As, Zoom events such as the Women in Industry catchups, our conference (NZGDC), our info email inbox and the NZ Game Dev Slack.
Eventually we would hope to create more avenues for conversation and value co-creation either formally – through sub-committees for example, or informally. We look forward to building these new structures, and delivering the exciting work they will help to build, in partnership with our members in the coming years.