“I think the states that invested effectively in video-game development are reaping the benefits, and other states are taking notice,” he says. Successful ideas so far include the goose-simulating slapstick of Untitled Goose Game, the meditative zen of sorting objects and moving house in Dawson’s Unpacking, and the brutal, challenging exploration of a dead and emptied world of insects in Hollow Knight – to say nothing of Cult of the Lamb’s strange, cute-but-creepy mix of community management and vengeful crusading.ĭawson is cautiously optimistic about the likelihood of further government investment in the sector. Whereas if you have a really big team the ideas might get diluted or standardised.”ĭawson agrees: “Because we share culture with North America and the UK yet are also outsiders, Australian and NZ devs are well positioned to come at concepts in fresh and off-kilter ways that can be an effective way to punch through the noise.” “By having these smaller teams, you have to really come up with these ideas that are so important, that resonate with people. “I hope we can keep the indie spirit strong,” he says, “because that’s where thrives … I feel like that’s where we can compete. Why precisely Australian games are going big internationally is difficult to determine, Wilton says, though he ascribes some of it to “weird ideas” born from smaller team sizes. “One of the great things about digital releases is we can sell our games all over the world, so it’d be a waste not to leverage that.” Tim Dawson, one of the Brisbane-based developers behind last year’s hit Unpacking, says: “Given the relative population size, I think aiming for the international market is inevitable.”Ī room from Unpacking, a video game by Brisbane-based Witch Beam. “Australia’s a really small segment of the market,” Wilton says, “so having publishers is really quite useful for Australian developers.” They received $40,000 in funding from VicScreen and Creative Victoria to polish a demo to the point where they could pitch it to their publisher, Devolver Digital.

Like many Australian game developers, the Massive Monster team credit the state’s investment in the industry for helping them achieve international success.

“I think having that community of developers that are on a similar level to you is great inspiration you can talk shop, compare contacts, they can help you out, you can help them out. “There’s such a creative energy, there’s so many cool studios,” Wilton says. More than 44% of studios are based in Victoria, according to a 2021 survey from the Independent Games and Entertainment Association, as well as more than 57% of the workforce. Melbourne in particular has a thriving game-developer scene, thanks to a combination of state government funding, tax incentives and a creator-friendly vibe. ‘I hope we can keep the indie spirit strong.’ Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAPĪustralia is home to some of the world’s more successful indie game studios, with a string of international hits coming from smaller teams over the last few years. Game developer Julian Wilton at Acmi in Melbourne.

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