
Australia’s Gaming Boom Has a Secret Weapon
Australia’s gaming industry isn’t just growing - it’s thriving. With revenue doubling in the past five years and homegrown studios making waves globally, there’s never been a better time to be a game developer Down Under. But who’s making sure this momentum keeps going?
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Australia’s video game industry is on a winning streak. In 2024 alone, it raked in a massive $339 million AUD and employed 2,465 Australians—double what it was just five years ago. This isn’t just luck; it’s the result of solid government backing and key industry players stepping up.
One of those key players? The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA), the powerhouse behind supporting game developers across Australia and New Zealand. On December 19, 2024, they dropped their ninth annual Australian Game Developer Survey (AGDS), a deep dive into the trends, size, and future of the country’s booming game dev scene.
I had the chance to chat with Raelene Knowles, IGEA’s COO, who’s at the forefront of the org’s events, research, and advocacy. From backing indie studios to pushing for more opportunities for women and gender-diverse developers, Raelene gave me the inside scoop on how IGEA is helping the industry level up.

How are the 2024 AGDS results used to understand the growth of Australia’s video game development industry?
The AGDS is an annual survey IGEA does that takes a snapshot of the temperature of where the Australian development industry is sitting. We’re a small industry, but we’re definitely on a growth trajectory.
As a result of the advocacy work we’ve done, we have a positive willingness from our government at both state and federal levels to support the industry. It’s vital we collect data like this so we can show what’s happening in the industry: how are jobs, employment, revenue, and export revenues? What does that look like now that we have all these funding measures in place?
We have that data piece, that quantitative piece, but it’s really important that we also have some qualitative information behind it as well. We conduct a lot of consultations with members in the broader industry to make sure that data is, in fact, accurate and to determine how the industry is actually performing. We know—because of the funding that has happened at a government level—there’s a whole lot of new studios, and they’re working on new product. We expect that to start coming out in the next couple of years; that will affect the industry.
How does the industry’s growth influence the resources available to studios?
It impacts the studios in so many ways. The government gives out all sorts of different funds here in Australia. A studio will take an idea to a screening agency. The agency will go, ‘Wow, that looks like a cool game. We’re going to give you some money to fund it.’
We also have tax rebates as well. It works from two different angles of the ecosystem, which is important. We’re finding that the more funding you have, the more funding you can get. We can see that those funds have a material impact on the industry. A lot of creative ideas and Australian stories have come to fruition, which is really important and a goal of the government.
That funding also allows us to get export revenue; it allows people to be employed consistently. It’s one of those scenarios in which initial funding builds out to so much more and creates a stable and thriving ecosystem with many different businesses. A lot of ancillary businesses have also started to develop. The more benefits come into the sector, the more we can prove that we’re stable.
Why is it important to have that Australian identity and support those studios—especially smaller ones?
I think every country—not just Australia—loves to talk about those success stories. We love the ability for Australians to tell stories on a global stage. Also, our technological capability is really important to the industry.
Smaller studios foster a lot of innovation. They’re more agile and express different ideas with their art, storytelling, and technical ability. So it’s really important that we foster that as well. Of course, they’re also employing people and contributing to the broader economy as a whole. They’re often made up of a lot of diverse people as well. It is really, really important that they’re part of the entire game development ecosystem. Setting up the funding ecosystem and supporting the whole industry, particularly the smaller studios, we get a lot of new ideas all the time, and we’re able to unearth a lot of different talent as well.
Lately, I’ve found that many independent studios are making more captivating games than bigger studios.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. There are billions of players globally, meaning there is a demand for lots of different content. So yes, there’s a lot of evergreen product out there that people will play on a continual annualized basis. There are also people looking for completely different experiences and stories. It’s important for independent studios to get their products to market and serve that particular audience.
Since many smaller studios employ diverse teams, were any additional programs or initiatives available last year for women and gender-diverse developers?
It’s a priority for us and all of the funding agencies to offer opportunities to women and gender-diverse people—marginalized creatives, generally. So a lot of our advocacy work with the screen funding agencies ensures that when they’re allocating funding or developing programs, they’ve got those particular creatives in mind. In some instances, they’ll work on a program solely targeted at those people or people new to the industry.
We also work to deliver scholarships and assistance packages aimed at women and gender-diverse people. That might be that we partnered with someone to ensure women get tickets to GDC, a big global games conference. We run a game developer conference as well. We allocate a certain amount of tickets to ensure that women and gender-diverse people or marginalized developers can come and start to build their networks within the industry. It’s a very network-heavy industry.
The other thing we work on is highlighting game development as a career, particularly for women and gender-diverse students. We’re going into schools and profiling game development, what a game developer does, and the types of roles available. There are a lot of kids who might be interested in that, but they have no idea that they can work as an artist in a game development studio. It’s around the premise, if you can see it, you can be it. We need this industry to go out and talk to schools.
Are there any upcoming programs or plans IGEA has set for supporting women and gender-diverse developers in 2025?
We do lots of networking events at a state-based level. We profile women and gender-diverse people and introduce them to each other so they have a buddy when they attend conferences or games programs. That’s something we do at an informal level. We also run an event calendar that looks at all of the key DEI activities that are happening. We might celebrate International Women’s Day by having a bunch of speakers and events at the state base level.
The other thing we’ve been doing—which we’ve really enjoyed doing—is partnering with a couple of groups that run exhibitions to showcase games that women and LGBTQ+ people are creating. AGEA provides event marketing and financial support to ensure these exhibitions can happen. This way, we can start profiling the work of those diverse creatives and bring more diverse creatives into the industry. Working with our extensive networks to keep profiling and promoting the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a key focus for us in 2025 and early 2026.
I like that you mentioned a buddy system; because, growing up, I never had friends who liked video games. I didn’t have anyone to talk about games with, so I didn’t even think of it as a hobby or career path.
We found that from an industry perspective as well. The industry is still predominantly made up of men; it has been for a long time and probably will continue to be for a long time. But, we’ve really enjoyed bringing women in the industry together for breakfast, lunch, or pizza night so they can make friends. Then, when they go to the next event, showcase, or retail presentation, they’ve got someone they’re familiar with and feel safe with. They can share their ideas and experiences, and it’s been beneficial to all involved. We’ve all made new friends!


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