The Dominion Post have an article covering the extraordinary growth of the New Zealand games industry this year. With the rise of independent games development and the popularity of online / mobile games market spaces, the NZ games industry has seen a near doubling of numbers to 359 developers in the field, a whopping 46% growth for this year, according to the New Zealand Games Development Association (NZGDA). NZGDA association chairman, Stephen Knightly, had this to say on the reasons for the growth that they're seeing...
(Stephen Knightly) Online, smartphone and 'indie' games may not have the advertising budgets of large console games, but they're the fastest growing segments of the games business. Our distance from the rest of the world meant that New Zealand game developers were early adopters of online digital distribution and self-publishing, and we're seeing the positive results of that investment now.
NZGDA surveyed 21 local games developers who themselves expected another 99 new jobs for the next year. As a way to celebrate the rise of the NZ games industry, the organisation has put together a video (seen below) which highlights some of the fantastic games to come out recently from NZ. Sidhe, the long established developer behind the latest Rugby Challenge game and the studio called Pik Pok, is listed as the largest studio in New Zealand.