Dunedin: absolutely positively (almost) the gaming capital of New Zealand
Dunedin has leapfrogged Christchurch and Wellington to move to second place in New Zealand for gaming studios.
The southern city now had 19 gaming studios, behind Auckland (27), but well ahead of Wellington (13) and Christchurch (5), according to a 2022 New Zealand Game Developers Association survey.
The secret to Dunedin’s success was the establishment of the government-backed New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence (Code).
When Code was set-up in 2019, Dunedin only had four gaming studios in the city: Runaway, Rocketwerkz (which has since relocated), Spotted Kiwi Interactive and Balancing Monkey Games, a report presented to the economic development committee of the Dunedin City Council on Monday morning.
* The Kiwi Paralympian who is now an avatar in a video game * Climate change next on agenda after Ninja Kiwi's $203m deal * Game On: New Zealand's next billion-dollar industry
As a result of Code funding, 25 studios had been set up – of which some had been disbanded and staff absorbed into other studios.
The committee heard that Code funding, which included grants for studios and support to attend gaming conferences, had contributed to 90 jobs.
‘’Dunedin has become a destination for game development studios,’’ the report said.
That included an Auckland-based company choosing the city for its satellite base, while other larger studios visiting the city for ‘’scouting purposes’’.
Another example was Deep Field Games established by successful United States’ indie developer, Geoff Keene, who ‘’chose Dunedin over any other city in New Zealand, and New Zealand over any other city in the world to set up his new studio’’, the report noted.
The studio’s nine staff members, which included some laid-off from Rocketwerkz, had
Read more on stuff.co.nz
