GDSR update Oct 2023
29 October 2023

We are now well underway with the first phase of the Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR), the rebate designed to support the development and growth of our game development sector here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

On 13 October, registrations closed for the special Pilot Phase put in place to stress test and fine tune the administrative processes behind the rebate and to provide sector support prior to Christmas.  Nine studios have now registered and gone through to the next stage of the Pilot Phase and we have been pleased to see everything working well to get the GDSR process up and running.

Webinar
We took part in a NZGDA webinar on 10 October to talk through all the ins and outs of the GDSR, go through the end-to-end process, introduce the Games Rebate team here at NZ On Air and answer questions.

If you weren’t able to make it, you can access a recording of the webinar here.

Questions from the webinar – plus others we have received via our inbox (gamesrebate@nzonair.govt.nz) – will be put into an FAQ document that will soon be up on the NZ On Air games rebate webpage.  If you have other questions, just email us.  The more questions you have for us, the better we’ll be able to provide all the detail and clarification you need.

Key Documents and Key Dates
Just to remind you, there are some useful documents on our website to help you.  Please note we have updated the GDSR Guidelines and the GDSR Terms of Trade so please refresh yourself on these documents so you are across these changes.

• The GDSR Guidelines detail everything you need to know about eligibility, the registration process, application process, assessment and decision making.
• The GDSR Terms of Trade includes general Terms and Conditions.
• The GDSR Financial Info Required and Eligible Expenditures outlines the eligibility criteria, application process and scheme governance.
• And we have also added a GDSR Glossary of terms.

Also, there are some key dates coming up for the Pilot Phase and General Registration:

• 31 Oct 2023: Pilot Phase Application deadline for registered applicants
• 30 Nov 2023: Deadline for General Registrations for Year One*
• Nov – Dec 2023: Applications reviewed and claims processed for Pilot Phase
• Dec 2023 – Jan 2024: Letters of Acknowledgement sent out to eligible applicants
• Dec 2023 – Feb 2024: Statement of Readiness process undertaken by eligible applicants
• 1 Apr 2024: Final Applications open for Year One rebates
• 30 Apr 2024: Final Application deadline for Year One rebates
• Apr – June 2024: Applications reviewed and claims processed for Year One

*Please note, for those looking to meet the General Registration deadline of 30 November, it is really important to give yourself plenty of time to complete this.  For instance, there are two stages to the General Registration; the first stage asks key eligibility criteria questions (outlined in the Guidelines), at which stage NZ On Air will review and confirm if you meet the eligibility criteria and if you do, then you will be granted access to the second stage of the General Registration, which seeks greater detail on the specific estimated eligible expenditure for your Final Application.

So, we recommend you begin your General Registration as soon as possible to give yourself plenty of time to complete the steps.