FIRST-EVER NZ GAME DEVELOPMENT WORKFORCE REPORT LAUNCHED AT NZGDC
The New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA) today launched its first-ever Game Development Workforce Report at the New Zealand Game Developers Conference (NZGDC) in Auckland, providing the most detailed picture yet of the people who make Aotearoa's games.
The report combines results from the NZGDA 2025 Workforce Survey, the first survey of its kind undertaken in this country, with salary benchmarking data provided in aggregate by NZ On Air through the Game Development Sector Rebate. Together, they establish a baseline that NZGDA will track every two years from here.
The headline findings are encouraging. New Zealand's game developers are passionate, experienced and genuinely happy at work, with strong cultures, flexible arrangements and positive leadership coming through consistently. Around 70 percent of the workforce is now hybrid or fully remote, and on gender diversity New Zealand is tracking ahead of global benchmarks, with 32 percent female and 7 to 8 percent non-binary or gender diverse respondents, compared to around 24 percent women globally.
Salary competitiveness is flagged as a latent risk as flat local pay meets international competition, and career progression pathways need deliberate design. More than half of the workforce (55 percent) feels uncomfortable using AI tools in their work, even while 60 percent can see its practical value, a tension the industry needs to lead on rather than react to.
For the first time, the report also publishes salary benchmarks for the New Zealand games industry, covering ten key disciplines across three seniority levels, from Quality Assurance to Heads of Departments. NZGDA has committed to publishing this data alongside NZ On Air every two years, to reduce information asymmetry, support pay equity, and position New Zealand as a transparent industry.
"New Zealand's game development workforce is passionate, resilient, and broadly happy at work, but operating under some real pressures," said Joy Keene, Executive Director of NZGDA. "Our people love what they do and where they work. But keeping them here, and attracting the next generation, will require deliberate action on pay, career frameworks, and how studios engage with emerging technology. This report gives us the baseline data to have those conversations honestly, and to measure progress against."
"This is about backing our people as much as our products," said Anna Barham, Chair of NZGDA. "A healthy, well-paid, well-supported workforce is what turns a record year into a sustainable industry. We're asking every studio in the country to engage with this data and commit to action."
NZGDA's commitments arising from the report include:
Repeating the workforce survey and report every two years
Publishing sector-level salary data publicly with NZ On Air
Scoping a joint industry skills and career framework with tertiary institutions, government and industry partners
Using NZGDC to convene studios around specific commitments on pay, progression and AI policy
The report can be downloaded here
