Austrade and interactive games body release investor’s guide to the Australian games industry

August 30, 2022

Entertainment / Finance / Technology /

Australia expertise in digital and interactive gaming is being highlighted in a new guide, Level Up: A Guide to the Australian Games Industry, for investors and industry stakeholders.

Produced by Austrade and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, the guide to the nation’s $226 million digital games industry explains key industry statistics and information on the new Digital Games Tax Offset and other incentives.

It also advise on the Australian games industry’s key hubs and profiles 12 leading Australian and international companies in Australia.

In an communication, Austrade advise “from Untitled Goose Game to Hollow Knight and Unpacking, Australian-made digital games are rocketing up sales charts and winning global awards.

“Our indie developers are partnering with global publishers (and) our studios are attracting multimillion-dollar investment.

“Global giants like Sledgehammer Games, Keyword Studios and Electronic Arts have studios here to access our tech talent, generous incentives and collaborative ecosystem.”

The publication goes on to explain “Australia is a burgeoning centre for the global games-development industry.

“Australian-made games are grabbing international headlines, winning awards and rocketing to the top of global sales charts (and) this is all due to our creativity.

“Australia is home to cutting-edge games studios led by bright, dynamic and multicultural entrepreneurs.

“Our digital games industry supports more than 400 businesses with over 200,000 software developers choosing to call Australia home - 2,000 of which are employed solely in our innovative games industry.

“The industry’s growth is further fuelled by the 3,000 game-development and 100,000 IT and creative arts graduates each year from our renowned education institutions.”

The guide explains how the Australian Government is backing the industry over the long term with the upcoming Digital Games Tax Offset to provide a 30% refundable tax offset for Australia-based companies to develop games.

The document notes “this empowers global creatives to scale Australia’s digital industry and export our games to the world.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of Australia’s games industry, as we level up and get set to explode.”

Games industry snap shots.

Sledgehammer Games
US-based Sledgehammer Games set up in Australia in 2019. Today, it has 150 staff and has helped launch the latest game in the Call of Duty series: Call of Duty®: Vanguard.

Modding pioneer raises US$26 million in Series A funding
mod.io’s technology lets players create new game content and generate revenue. The modding pioneer has raised US$26 million from investors such as Tencent and Lego Ventures.

Acquisition turbocharges Big Ant Studios’ growth plans
French games giant Nacon acquired Big Ant Studios for €35 million in 2021, backing Big Ant Studios’ plans to become the world’s biggest sport game developer.

Unpacking Witch Beam’s global success
Witch Beam’s house-moving game, ‘Unpacking’, was the studio’s second-ever game, but it became a global hit and won Game of the Year at the 2022 BAFTA Game Awards.

Nano Dimension sets up home in Sydney
Nano Dimension has opened its first office and 3D printing technology lab in Australia.

The company will be based at a new tech hub for scaleups in Sydney.

Click here to download Level Up: A Guide to the Australian Games Industry.

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