Rocket blasts off with $20m project A major ’Triple A’ game is the ambitious plan for one of New Zealand’s newest creative companies, writes Jayne Atherton.
VIDEO GAME creator and adventurer, Dean Hall, has revealed plans to create a major ‘Triple A’ project in New Zealand worth $20m.
Hall, who is one of the world’s leading developers, says details of the project are still under wraps, but the game is set to be developed by his newly launched business, Rocketwerkz, which has offices in Dunedin and London.
Triple A describes games which have the highest level of development and product promotion. It means they are top quality and expected to be among the bestsellers in the year of launch.
Originally from Oamaru in North Otago, Hall is famous for creating DayZ, a zombie survival game from the Bohemia Interactive company, which has sold more than 3 million copies and has earned over US$100m
Inspiration for the adrenalinefuelled action came from his own survival training, experienced as a commissioned officer in both the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Army. He is also an accomplished mountaineer, becoming the 42nd kiwi to scale Mount Everest in 2013 – and is still only 34-years-old. For now however, climbing has had to take a back seat, as work starts on two smaller – but still multi-million dollar projects – to create a single player and a very advanced multiplayer game for PCs and consoles.
Hall said he was glad to be back in New Zealand after four years in London and the Czech Republic. He has recently been on a recruiment drive for staff for his Dunedin studio. He said: ‘‘It was a natural progression for me to return, and the skills here are just so good. Creatively, New Zealand is an exceptional place to be. Games rely on tech expertise and the film industry here means we have those visual skills too.’’ ‘‘The country is a great fit with the games industry. Video games firms are the ultimate green, eco-companies. All they need is computers, people and power.’’
Yet one of the biggest barriers to basing all of Rocketwerkz operations in Dunedin is the poor broadband service compared to other countries. Hall said he set up an operation in London in order to access the super fast broadband he needs for game development, as well as having access to some of the world’s best creative talent, including some of the special effects experts who worked on the film ‘Gravity.’
In London, the operation is being run jointly with ‘simulated worlds’ tech company, Improbable. But a base overseas means Hall is commuting more than 11000 miles to keep in touch with the UK team there.
‘‘The gaming industry needs to be better supported in New Zealand,’’ said Hall. ‘‘And truly fast broadband is essential. The rewards of invesment can be considerable. From a spend of a few million dollars, a game can make many millions more in revenues, which would be very welcome for the economy. Some games have made US$1bn.’’
Before heading overseas, Hall worked for a couple of years as a producer at New Zealand’s largest home-grown computer games studio, Wellington’s PikPok, which was then called Sidhe. PikPok chief executive Maria Wynands said: ‘‘DayZ has been very successful
Games rely on tech expertise and the film industry here means we have those visual skills too.’’
from a sales and financial perspective. There are lot of people who are really ‘into it’. It’s got a great fanbase. I believe the company had its challenges continuing to build-out the game, but game development is a tricky business.
‘‘The large success and following that some of these games can gartner puts a lot of pressure on teams to scale-up quickly.’’