Reports - NZGDA

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has drafted a strategy, Amplify, which was recently out for consultation (now closed).  Amplify sets out the government’s actions to boost creativity and culture in New Zealand.  It communicates the Government’s plan for prioritising decisions about how to work with, and support, the sectors’ development.  After an initial read, it’s […]

New Zealand video games sector proves resilient with 7% growth, despite Australian incentives New Zealand video game studios earned $434.4m in the year to 31 March 2023, of which 95% came from high-value digital exports, according to a survey by the NZ Game Developers Association. However, fierce competition from Australian tax incentives and the end […]

Game on, Kiwis! According to the New Zealand Plays report released by IGEA in conjunction with Bond University, 79% of all New Zealanders play video games, a 6% increase from the previous report. New Zealand Plays (formerly known as Digital New Zealand) is the 7th report in the series spanning 14 years and explores the demographics […]

Global Games Market Report, the flagship report of Newzoo’s Games Market Reports & Forecasts presents this preview version of the report providing a glimpse into the exciting world of gaming in 2023 and beyond.  Overarchingly, 2023 will be an exciting year for the global games market.  The number of players will surpass 3.3 billion, with […]

New Zealanders love to play games as shown by new consumer sales data released today by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA). Trends are up in almost all categories as over $608 million was spent on video games in 2022, up 12% from 2021. While the digital space saw significant growth, traditional bricks and […]

New Zealand game industry grows over 47% NZ video games industry achieves record growth but faces mounting Aussie threat. New Zealand’s digital video games industry boosted revenue by almost 50% to a record $407 million over the past year, employing more than 1000 people for the first time, but maintaining growth is proving challenging with […]

New Zealand game studios created over 200 jobs during lockdown But Australian tax incentives and border restrictions put 300 more jobs at risk, according to latest survey findings.   New Zealand’s video games industry created 222 new jobs during 2020’s lockdowns. While the industry grew employment 30%, the potential to create over 300 future jobs […]

New Zealand’s video game developers have proven themselves resilient through Covid-19. Our interactive media sector earned $271 million in the year to 1 April 2020. The industry benefited both from being able to continue production during lockdowns as well as soaring demand as people around the world stayed home and played digital and online games. […]

The NZGDA has written a submission to Parliament about the planned Screen Workers Rights Bill which aims to improve workers rights for contractors (not fulltime employees) working in our screen – and games – industry. Read our submission here. What do you think?

A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according to the NZ Game Developers […]

New Zealand interactive game developers earned $203.4 million dollars during the 2019 financial year – double the $99.9m earned only two years earlier in 2017. The success comes from targeting audiences around the world and 96% of the industry’s earnings came from exports.

A new report says that an industry development plan for New Zealand’s interactive media and games sector could create a billion dollar export industry by 2024. Introducing a coordinated plan that invests in emerging talent and allows interactive media to access existing screen industry programmes would create hundreds of hi-tech and creative industry jobs. The […]

A new report has found interactive media is a $143 million industry and is one of the fastest growing parts of New Zealand’s digital economy. Interactive Aotearoa – Driving growth and wellbeing through interactive media was prepared by the New Zealand Game Developers Association with support from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and […]

The Government has announced that it will develop a Creative Industries plan in 2020. This is particularly exciting for New Zealand’s gaming industry. Despite being the fastest-growing industry in New Zealand (39% annual growth each year for the last six years), game development has previously fallen into a gap between hi-tech policy and arts and […]

More than 30 New Zealand screen, music and interactive media creators – including the NZ Game Developers Association – have submitted a joint position paper to the Government’s review of the Copyright Act.  The group represents New Zealand film makers, television producers, broadcasters and home entertainment distributors, songwriters, composers, recording artists and music companies, production […]