Queensland’s Gold Coast is known for its night-life and surfing stars but a new industry is preparing to set up camp on the glitter strip.
The Gold Coast will soon become home to Australia’s largest video game developer after Playside decided it will expand its operation to Queensland.
The company, which started in 2011, has had a bumper first quarter of the 2022 financial year, recording $4.04m in revenue.
It is a significant leap from $7.7 million in the 2020 financial year, which was up 56 per cent on the 2019 financial year.
It will expand from its single Melbourne studio to the Gold Coast after the Queensland government announced a 15 per cent Post-Production, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) incentive to create the most generous one available in Australia.
Playside chief operating officer Paul Fourace told news.com.au setting up a studio on the Coast was appealing for many reasons.
“We feel there’s a wealth of talent in Queensland that we can capitalise on by having a studio close by. There are longstanding ties in the gaming industry from when Brisbane was a major player in the mid-2000s and the universities in Queensland are offering a lot of great programs,” he said.
“The incentives obviously have played a big part in that too. I would expect to see other developers in Australia or overseas following our lead.”
Earlier this year, the federal government announced a Digital Games Tax Offset, which is a scheme that grants gaming businesses earning more than $500,000 a 30 per cent offset. This will come into effect in July 2022 and some states have followed the trend.
South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria are now offering an additional 10 per cent for game developers in their states. Queensland was the last state to announce its offset, coming in at 15 per cent.
Playside is still scoping out a location for their studio but is hopeful it will be operational by the end of March 2022.
Mr Fourace said they had not outlined an exact number of staff at the new studio but hoped in a few years it would be similar to its Melbourne office which has 100 employees.
The move was endorsed by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) CEO Ron Curry
“PlaySide’s move is a sign of the strength of the local game development industry and their ability to take advantage of growing global demand for games,” he said.
In the latest PwC entertainment and media outlook report, the gaming industry had continued its growth in 2020. In 2019, Australians spent $3.175 billion on video games and exports – this grew by about eight per cent in 2020 with the revenue expected to top $3.4 billion.
Australia’s gaming industry is expected to grow to be a $5 billion dollar industry by 2025, the report said. It also revealed gaming earned more than the combined amount of video streaming services, like Netflix and Stan.
Originally published as Australian gaming industry eyeing off Gold Coast
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