A Note from our Chairperson Regarding Kiwi Game Starter 2020
28 January 2021

I’m that sure everyone is excited to hear more about this year’s applicants for Kiwi Game Starter and we are looking forward to celebrating the winners with you. Unfortunately, the NZGDA has decided that we need to postpone the announcement of the finalists until March 3, 2021.

The management of this year’s Kiwi Game Starter program has been a particular challenge for us. Many former board members, who have been pivotal in managing the KGS program in the past, left last year to work on other projects. In addition, on Monday we were informed that the Board member who had taken over the program in December needed to step down for personal reasons.

This transition has left many of you in the dark for several weeks, and for that we apologise. As we evaluated the state of the program and our next steps, we realised that we would need more time in order to give the applications the attention that they deserve.

The program will continue forward as planned, using the information that was provided at the time of submission. Finalists will now be notified on Wednesday March 3rd, the official Winner and Runner-Up will be notified on Thursday March 25, and the prize ceremony will now be Saturday March 27.

We realise that this is not an ideal scenario – we would have loved to celebrate the finalists this week and we share your disappointment with this news. However, we also appreciate that the past year has been extraordinarily tough for everyone, and recognise our colleague’s courage in taking a step back.

If you have any questions about this updated timeline or the Kiwi Game Starter program, I encourage you to reach out to the KGS team at kgs@nzgda.com. You can also contact me directly at chairperson@nzgda.com.

Thank you all for your patience and I look forward to celebrating the winners with you all in March.

Ngā mihi,
Chelsea Rapp
Chairperson of NZGDA