The original article was published in The Download magazine in November 2019. The Download is a quarterly report to generate a conversation about what fast broadband can do for New Zealand.

Fast fibre is giving Kiwi developers a place in the multi-billion dollar global games industry. It's also a green export. Scott Bartley reports

Game development in New Zealand stands on the edge of a billion-dollar precipice – a good one. That’s the potential size of the country’s games and interactive media business by 2024 if current rates of high growth are maintained for the next few years.

This is the finding of the Interactive Aotearoa Report 2019 – a brand-new industry report put together by the
New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA), government agencies, NZ Tech and WeCreate, the creative industries alliance. In a world where climate change and sustainable thinking impacts on many aspects of government policy-making, the lure of creating another billion-dollar export industry that relies on nothing more than an internet connection to export its entire output is enticing.

As it stands, game development in
New Zealand is rollicking along. Broadband fibre internet connections have made it possible for our far-flung game developers to connect to the world from almost anywhere in the country. Of the many things that easy access to fast internet makes possible for a game developer, digital distribution is perhaps the most important – it’s what makes it possible for small New Zealand-based game developers to tap into large international markets from the proverbial Kiwi garage.

Click here to read the full article...