About | CODE

It's Only Money - Usual Suspects Studios

WHAT IS CODE?

CODE is an economic development initiative designed to nurture a nationally significant, sustainable game development ecosystem in Aotearoa – New Zealand, supporting the broader target of New Zealand achieving an industry revenue in excess of $1BN annually.

CODE has three main pillars:

CODE is the New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence - a Dunedin-based hub designed to support a sustainable and equitable expansion of New Zealand's video game development industry.

FUNDING

CODE directly supports game development in Aotearoa – New Zealand, funding throughout a studio lifecycle – Kickstart for the creation of Prototypes, Start Up for Production support and matched Scale Up funding for successful companies to drive ambition and employment. We also fund curriculum development and community programmes that support the teaching or learning of game development skills.

PATHWAYS

CODE works with its partners in education, for example Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago to help with curriculum development and provide industry-ready programmes, all the way from Levels 4 to 7. Along with Game Dev Clubs for Intermediate age kids and other initiatives still in development, CODE supports many pathways for rangatahi into the industry. See Learning page for more information.

CAPABILITY

CODE organises workshops, seminars, masterclasses and meetups accessible to all members of the game dev community, with the goal of uplifting the capabilities of individuals and companies in the industry. Additionally, CODE organises targeted mentorship for both funded teams and those who have not yet submitted successful applications to help them on the journeys to operating sustainable studio businesses.

How Was Your Day - Mad Carnival Games

CODE VALUES

Leadership
CODE aspires to provide a unique combination of interventions that will have a direct impact of the success of studios and show leadership within Aotearoa – New Zealand.

Partnership

CODE is interconnected throughout the industry and with communities it touches – working as a team and collaborating systemically with partners around the country, the region and the globe.

Sustainability

CODE focuses on outcomes that will become self-sustaining over time, driving efficient, dynamic outcomes and a healthy ecosystem.

Diversity

CODE nurtures an inclusive, equitable and respectful environment within studios in Aotearoa – New Zealand, protecting the interests of underrepresented groups and uplifting those whose voices need to be heard and protected from harm.

Development

CODE actively encourages tuakana – teina relationships between studios, nurtures great learning outcomes in conjunction with its partners and promotes a commitment to excellence in the local industry.

Integrity

CODE should be honest, open and trustworthy – showing discipline in its processes, accountable for its decisions and balanced and fair in its support.

MEET THE TEAM

Tim Ponting (he/him)

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Vee Pendergrast (she/her)

INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Navi Brouwer (she/they)

REGIONAL CONTENT MANAGER -
LOWER NORTH ISLAND

Taikawa Tamati-Elliffe (he/him)

MĀORI PARTNERSHIPS & PATHWAYS MANAGER

Lauren Saker (she/her)

EVENT, COMMUNITY & EDUCATION MANAGER

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Antony Maday (he/him)

REGIONAL CONTENT MANAGER -
UPPER NORTH ISLAND

Match & Mastery - FourFox Interactive

CODE ENGAGEMENT POLICY

CODE is an Economic Development Agency tasked with developing a sustainable game development ecosystem across three core pillars: grant funding, capability development and industry pathways.

CODE’s grant funding decisions are handed down by Independent Assessment Panels. The CODE team passes on limited feedback in good faith from this assessment process and although staff may deliver it, it is not from the team itself.

More broadly, any advice and feedback offered from CODE is drawn from industry-first insights, backed by analysis and insight from our advisers and workshop teams and driven by trends in the market drawn from publisher, investor and industry sentiment. This is a constantly moving target.

Sometimes assessment panels may make difficult judgement calls in a very tight funding environment, and not everyone is going to agree all the time.

However, we require that our staff get treated with a minimum standard of professional respect and in return, we grant the same respect to the community of developers, students and industry professionals that we engage with. If we are asked to supply feedback, particularly on projects and applications, we do so in good faith, with the expectation it is taken in good faith in return.

On behalf of our staff, mentors, workshop runners and contractors, please treat the CODE whānau with courtesy and professional respect, and we will return that in kind.