News
July 12, 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 […]
June 22, 2022
Three finalists spots go to Out of Sight, Undeadly, and Warrior Chef
June 16, 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 […]
May 19, 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 […]
May 18, 2022
As a Not-For-Profit advocacy organisation, we have made it our mission to deliver above and beyond what would be expected; from our advocacy and lobbying efforts to the successful delivery of an annual national conference, business startup competitions, mentorship programmes, community content curation and creation, among other initiatives over the last decade. This is due, […]
May 12, 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 […]
April 13, 2022
Even for members of the general public who may be unfamiliar with the name Niantic, you can guarantee they will know their technology very, very well… From the Keyhole product in 2001 that allowed users to zoom into interactive 3D maps of the planet. Conceived as a video game that would let people from across […]
Pōneke-based game developers Dinosaur Polo Club have won the Audience Award at the Independent Games Festival with their critically acclaimed game Mini Motorways.
March 31, 2022
Latest studio investments from Alt Venture’s Kiwi gaming fund include: Deep Field Games Is a new studio founded by Geoff “Zag” Keene – creator of Unfortunate Spacemen and godfather of the social-deception genre – who has assembled a crack team of industry veterans from around the world focused on co-op games with mood, atmosphere, and […]
March 22, 2022
This week CODE – New Zealand’s Centre of Digital Excellence – announced a $250,000 Scale-Up grant has been awarded to Mad Carnival Entertainment, a new Dunedin-based satellite studio from the founders of Auckland’s Method and M Theory. Although still largely under wraps given market sensitivity, Director and Co-Founder Samantha Ramlu has hinted at their first […]
March 17, 2022
The New Zealand Game Developers Conference 2022 will be held on 17 – 19 August 2022 at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Tickets will go sale in June. Currently we are accepting speaker and panel applications via this form. Applications close 17th April 11:59pm. With news of border restrictions easing, we wanted […]
March 1, 2022
Entry forms for the New Zealand Game Developers Association startup programme for interactive games businesses, the Kiwi Game Starter, are now open! Entrants should prepare their playable prototypes and business/marketing plans for submission via the submission form. The deadline for submissions is Monday 2 May 2022 at 5pm. Thanks to our kind sponsor University of […]
February 24, 2022
New Zealand-based video-game developer Space Rock Games raises $650,000 from venture capital investors Hillfarrance and the New Zealand Growth Capital Partners to develop their debut game, Criminals Within. With this round closed, the company has become one of the first venture-backed gaming studios in the country. Space Rock Games was originally founded by five […]
February 14, 2022
The Digital Economy and Communications Minister David Clark has released the digital technologies sector draft Industry Transformation Plan (ITP*) for consultation. It includes specific proposals for the Government to support Aotearoa New Zealand’s interactive media and game development sector, and is seeking your feedback. *An ITP is a sector-based development plan, jointly produced between industry, […]
February 11, 2022
PikPok expands globally via acquisition to scale studio bandwidth and portfolio Leading games publisher PikPok® today announced the acquisition of Wizard Fun Factory, an independent video game development studio based in Medellín, Colombia. Known for crafting high-quality immersive experiences across mobile, web, and VR/AR, Wizard has collaborated in recent years with PikPok on updates and […]