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New Zealand's games industry doubles in revenue over two years

63 per cent of titles created are mobile apps

New Zealand's games industry doubles in revenue over two years

The revenue generated by the New Zealand games industry has more than doubled between 2017 and 2019. 

As shown in a survey conducted by the New Zealand Game Developers Association, the industry generated NZ$203 million ($131 million) last year, a huge increase on the NZ$99.9 million ($64.3 million) it made in 2017. It's also a 43 per cent increase on the NZ$143 million ($92.1 million) made from 2018.

The country relies heavily on international sales for its revenue, with 96 per cent of its income being export-driven.

Overall, the 10 largest studios in the country bring in 93 per cent of the total revenue, as well as employing 77 per cent of the total workers in New Zealand's games market. Just under half of the studios (47 per cent) claimed that a lack of skilled applicants is hindering their growth.

The studio's that took part in the survey cover a range of different media. The majority at 63 per cent make mobile apps, while 53 per cent create titles for PC. Taking a drop at 38 per cent is console titles, 22 per cent make augmented reality games and finally 19 per cent make games for VR.

A growing market

“What we’re seeing are the fruits of the last generation of New Zealand interactive studios’ hard work," says New Zealand Game Developers Association chair Cassandra Gray.

"Our opportunity is to support the next generation of creative tech companies to join them."

Currently, New Zealand has 683 people working in the games industry. At 31 per cent, programmers are the most common employee. Following this are artists at 29 per cent, a significant drop sees managerial roles at 12 per cent.

Furthermore, game designers make up 10 per cent of the total employees, while both quality assurance testers and producers each make up seven per cent. However, only 21 per cent of those employed in the games industry in the country are female.

Last year, the New Zealand government injected NZ$10 million ($6 million) into the games industry.

The story originally appeared on PCGamesInsider.biz.


Staff Writer

Kayleigh is the Staff Writer for PocketGamer.biz. Besides PGbiz and PCGI she has written as a list writer for Game Rant, rambling about any and all things games related. You can also find her on Twitter talking utter nonsense.