Gaming is extremely popular. With a $258 billion market worldwide, it’s one of the biggest fields in the global entertainment sector.
New Zealand, although not the biggest one, still has an impressive arsenal of released games, Not only in the form of pc and console games but also online casino games as well. In fact, NZ real money live casino games are some of the most popular on the market. Besides this, New Zealand boasts an impressive bunch of mobile games as well, so there’s a lot of variety. Let’s look at some of the most popular games made in New Zealand throughout the years:
Path of Exile
Path of exile is one of the most, if not THE most, popular games made in New Zealand. It’s an action role-playing game that was developed by Grinding Bear Games, an Auckland-based studio that was founded in 2006. The studio was an independent developer before it was acquired by China’s tech giant Tencent. The game itself was released back in 2013 for Windows, 2017 for Xbox One, and 2019 for Playstation 4.
The game is set in a dark, gloomy fantasy setting. The game starts with the hero waking up on shores of Wraeclast, a once-glorious empire that is now a slave colony to the island of Oriath. After waking up, the player goes on with an adventure of surviving their exile by battling with all sorts of characters ranging from humans and animals all the way to terrifying demons.
Path of Exile offers unparalleled variety when it comes to customizing your character’s skillsets and abilities. There are hundreds of abilities, both passive and active, that you can invest in when leveling up your character; which provides a lot of control and ability to customize the character that would satisfy any taste.
Ashen
Though published by an American company named Annapurna Interactive, Ashen was developed by a New Zealand-based company named A44 Studios. The game was released in 2018 for Windows and Xbox One, and in 2019 for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4.
Built on Unreal Engine 4, the game is very interesting in terms of its mechanics. In this regard, it’s very often contrasted with Dark Souls games, a legendary series developed by Fromsoftware that is well-known for its extremely challenging game mechanics and difficulty.
The game features very captivating and unique graphics. It’s a sort of hybrid between the legend of Zelda and Shadow of Colossus. The game is set in a world without the sun, which adds to the game’s likeness to the latter.
Bloons TD
Bloons is a tower-defense game developed by an Auckland-based developer named Ninja Kiwi. The game was a massive success and has been released in over six iterations, and that’s not counting the various small spin-offs and add-ons based on the core game.
The premise of the game is quite simple – you need to prevent balloons-known as bloons-from reaching the end of the track. There are two types of balloons – regular/generic ones, as well as special ones called “MOABS” (Massive Ornary Air Blimps).
Bloons move towards the point of defense, and the player needs to defend it by eliminating the bloons by placing defensive towers around the track. Certain types of towers are strong against certain types of bloons and weaker against others, making for really interesting strategic choices and developments.
