Coronavirus is a disastrous blow for the world economy hardest affecting the industries like tourism, travel, and transportation. Similar to other nations, the pandemic has also impacted real money CasinoDeps operators although the country is among the most successful in repulsing COVID-19. Despite these substantial impacts, the NZ gaming industry has amazingly seen profits increase in 2021.
As stated by the New Zealand Game Developer Association (NZGDA), the gaming industry’s gain has risen by $121 million with an annual growth of 42% and $324 million in revenue for 2020. These figures are evidence that the country is the creative centre for game development companies so making the industry into a billion-dollar market is potentially possible.
A Good Location for Video Game Development
Chelsea Rapp, a chairman of the NZ Game Developer Association stated that New Zealand had successfully implemented education programs to train the next generation of developers. With a well-established education scheme and several schools specialized in the skills, the country had a great opportunity for video game development.
Nonetheless, the nation really needed more experienced senior talents to train the young developers. In this sector, hiring experienced developers was important as they can train the graduates. Without the seniors to mentor and teach the young talents, hiring the juniors is impossible. This means that the graduates need the opportunities to be trained by more experienced game developers to advance in their careers. With more effective training techniques, not only will they become a part of existing studios but they can potentially create their own companies.
Gaming Industry Challenges and Policy in New Zealand
Although around 50 video game developers are operating in New Zealand, the majority of the revenue is only produced by 12 of them. There is a big gap between the big video game developer companies like PikPok, A44 Games, and Grinding Gears and the young independent games studios. PikPok is a leading developer and publisher that has an average life span of 20 years. Apart from this Wellington-based developer, other companies last around 11 years in general. PikPok is also recognized for training many ambitious young game developers who have the project to open their own studios.
Furthermore, Chelsea Rapp also added that the lack of early-stage funding is a barrier to the development of the industry. Without the funding, the developers cannot create a prototype making it complicated to win the interest of venture capitalists through the traditional ways. Moreover, the Centre of Digital Excellence or CODE is a national hub created to support the development of the video game industry in New Zealand. Unfortunately, according to Rapp, this organisation, actually, offers funding for the growth of a $1 billion game development industry over the next 10 years.
A Plan to Expand into the US and Asian Markets
As the geographical positioning of the country is also perfect for the US and Asian markets, expanding into these powerful markets will make up the largest source of profits. As a matter of fact, the report stated that 96% of local developers’ revenue came from the foreign audience. Furthermore, during the pandemic lockdowns, the game development industry had to adapt to the situation and offered their products to overseas customers.
Chelsea Rapp confirmed that the country had all pieces to create a really good ecosystem and if those essential pieces can be supported each, maximizing the economic potential will be achievable. Investing in early-stage projects is the best way to capitalise on the growth. Thus, it comes as no surprise that more and more of them can leap to become the biggest studios generating all of the revenue.
