New Zealand Game Developers Association

The 2026 Policy Platformer, a collaborative initiative between the New Zealand Game Developers Association and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, serves as a strategic roadmap for the New Zealand game development sector. Its primary purpose is to inform political parties and government stakeholders of the industry’s current economic standing and to advocate for specific policy frameworks necessary to sustain long-term growth ahead of the upcoming election.

The industry has achieved significant economic milestones, recently surpassing $1 billion in annual revenue. With 95% of this revenue derived from exports to the United States and Europe, the sector demonstrates high productivity, estimated at $706,000 per full-time equivalent employee. A central finding is the high efficacy of the Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR), which generates a return of $4.74 for every dollar of government investment. Consequently, the industry advocates for the maintenance and stabilization of the GDSR as a long-term fiscal commitment rather than a short-term incentive.

Beyond fiscal support, the platformer calls for the formal recognition of game development as a distinct, multidisciplinary industry within national data and funding frameworks. Other key priorities include fostering long-term policy stability, enhancing international market access through coordinated trade delegations, and refining immigration settings to secure a specialized talent pipeline. The proposal also emphasizes the importance of integrating computer science fundamentals into STEAM education, ensuring robust intellectual property protections, and implementing regulatory designs that account for the unique operational characteristics of the gaming industry.

Video gaming has become a mainstream activity across New Zealand households, with the majority of homes now possessing multiple gaming devices. Seventy‑three percent of residences own two or more consoles or similar hardware, and eighty‑one percent of the population engages in gaming, most of them adults; the average player is 36 years old and eighty percent are aged 18 or older. Parental motivations for allowing children to play centre on enjoyment, educational value and problem‑solving, while a strong majority of parents enforce rules around gameplay. Over three‑quarters of parents set limits, and nearly four‑tenths consider those limits “very much” enforced, with a similar proportion applying them “to some degree.” Adult respondents display solid awareness of New Zealand’s game‑classification system, though familiarity drops for the R13‑R16 categories.

The findings derive from a nationally representative sample of 820 households surveyed in May 2025, encompassing 1,309 individual gamers—including 282 parents—and demographic data on 1,731 persons across the sampled homes. The study achieved a 3.5 percent margin of error and collected detailed information on device ownership, playtime, attitudes and knowledge of classification standards. Results highlight the entrenched role of gaming in everyday life, the prevalence of parental regulation, and a generally high level of consumer understanding of content ratings, albeit with gaps for mid‑range age classifications.

Overall, the research underscores the maturity of the New Zealand gaming market, the integration of gaming into family routines, and the need for clearer communication around specific rating bands to support informed parental decision‑making.