August 14, 2023
Māori needed in digital game boom
A Māori game developer is calling for Māori to grow their stake in the industry, both for the economic benefits, and also to ensure Māori intellectual property and culture are protected.
The New Zealand Game Developers Association says the sector is undergoing massive growth, with total revenue of $276 million in 2021 and dollars $407 million in 2022.
Taikawa Tamati-Eliffe – the Māori partnerships and pathways manager for CODE, the New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence, says the partnerships the Dunedin-Otepoti based centre has built with tangata whenua need to be replicated nationwide.
0:16Working with manawhenua in each rohe, to ensure that their vision of how this space, and supporting game development can be used. It’s very important that we get it right so we’re not left behind – that we are part of these korero from the very beginning.
Taikawa Tamati-Eliffe says CODE has a mission to create a $1 billion dollar video game development industry in Aotearoa by 2026 – and Maori must be an integral part of it.