Do Australia and New Zealand Have Potential As Partners In The Gaming Industry?

Politique, Carte, Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande

Being Australia’s closest neighbor, it’s not surprising to see more establishments entering into partnerships with New Zealand-based companies. It’s not just the proximity, but the business landscape in the two countries is similar. In particular, both have booming technology industries, and this relationship became especially apparent in October when Perth-based Internet service provider (ISP) Pentanet launched its cloud gaming service in both Australia and New Zealand.

Introducing The GeForce Now Network

News of the launch came at the start of the year after NVIDIA first announced in January 2021 that Australia would be added to the GeForce Now network courtesy of Pentanet. However, it wasn’t until the summer that the launch date was confirmed, and then the cloud gaming service had to go through one month of beta testing by roughly 20,000 local community members. GeForce NOW is available to the general public, and players in Australia and New Zealand can play more than 1000 games through the streaming service. Connections with Ubisoft Connect, Steam, and Epic Games Store are available.

Gaming Partnerships Of The Past

It’s not the first time that Australia and New Zealand have teamed up in the gaming industry, but it is one of the latest. Before that, we saw advertising agency TBWA\Sydney and Tourism NZ blend gaming and tourism by launching a campaign called Play NZ. This campaign is the first gameplay walkthrough of the real world, as players virtually explore some of the best attractions throughout New Zealand.

Gaming in travel marketing is a new and developing niche. However, it has considerable market potential, and Australia and New Zealand are proving to be at the forefront of the movement. As General Manager of Tourism New Zealand Andrew Waddel said, gaming and travel go hand in hand, as they are both about exploration and adventure.

Market Potentials

The possibilities that could come one day with having a more well-rounded gaming partnership between Australia and New Zealand are endless. The fusion of gaming and tourism is only one possible avenue, as both countries have reputable video game industries and growing iGaming sectors. According to Statista, by 2025, Australia’s video game industry is forecasted to have a market volume of US$1,002 million.

Similarly, New Zealand’s iGaming sector is extremely vibrant since dozens of new casinos launch every year. As visible on the popular review site Bonusfinder, New Zealand casinos are highly competitive and well-reputed, with the top options offering bonuses and promotions to entice new players. Evidently, these offers have worked when you consider the extent to which spending on gambling in the country has increased over the years (2.4 billion in 2018).

Australia and New Zealand could become a joint creative hub for game developers. After all, there’s already an established gaming culture in both countries, and in 2021, US-based companies are looking to set up projects overseas. This initiative is evident in the film industry, with many projects, including Amazon Studios’ Lord of the Rings flagship series, currently filming in the United Kingdom, which has become a favored location recently by producers. It seems reasonable to think high-profile gaming companies may do something similar.

Over the last year, we’ve seen Australia partner with New Zealand on several projects, but the most promising is the collective work in gaming. The Play NZ campaign showed the potential of blending gaming and tourism, and there are many other forms of gaming in both countries, such as iGaming, that could present unique opportunities if fused.

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