Meet the curator of Steam’s New Zealand games collection
This article was first published at thebit.nz
This week I opened Steam on my desktop to be greeted by a sight I’d never seen before: a celebration of PC games made in New Zealand, with discounts of up to 70%.
Unfortunately, that sale ended pretty quickly, but it did inspire me to get in touch with Chris McFarland, a Kiwi who curates the collection and the developer behind the Tallowmere series, to find out a little more about the New Zealand games development scene.
“Since starting the list in 2015, hearing of new games to add has mostly been from digital word-of-mouth in the NZ game dev Slack channel,” he tells me. “I don’t always catch new releases right away, but if I hear of a NZ studio releasing a game, I try to check it out and add new titles when possible.”
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The recent Steam promotion did give his Tallowmere games a bit of a sales boost, he tells me, and other developers in the community have claimed similar. But before now the list has been more of a slow burn. “It’s been a low-key list – cool to stumble upon, but not really something consumers are actively reaching out for and seeking,” he continues.
“New Zealand is a small country. But, having seen Steam promote other similar ‘Made in Country X’ sales for other countries before, it’s cool New Zealand has had its turn now!”
So, are there any characteristics that make a game distinctly Kiwi in feel? “I don’t think there’s a distinct trend amongst games made here,” he says. “Each game is its own thing, being born from different studios creating different styles of entertainment from different walks of life.”
Indeed,
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