Australian Games Industry on Thin Ice

by William D'Angelo, posted on 18 October 2011 / 842 Views

The Australian games industry has taken another hit, as fears of a collapse in the region grow. Less than a year after opening, Australian studio KMM Brisbane has closed its doors. It is only one of several developers to shut down in the region during the touch economy. The developer had around 40 employees and was made up of a large portion of ex-Krome Studios staff which closed last year.

Other studios that have closed include Pandemic, EA's Visceral, THQ's Brisbane and Melbourne studies, Krome and Team Bondi. Pandemic Studios shut down in 2009, Krome in 2010, and the other studios have all shut down this year.

KMM Brisbane's art director, Jason Stark said "the writing has been on the wall for a long time. But it's maybe a little surprising the extent to which it has happened. We've all expected the industry to be shrinking - it's been bad times. It's gone from being a mild contraction to being pretty much obliterated."

Stark states there are three main reasons for Australian game studios closing down. The decline in mid level games, the high Australian dollar and tax breaks that are given to game developers overseas. He fears thousands of jobs will be lost and that the Australian games industry will have a hard time to recovery as those with experience will move overseas.

Stark added, "People are either buying AAA games or they're buying $2 games on their iPhone. They're not really interested in a $60 'meh' game. There is a really boom or bust environment at the moment. The days of the large Aussie game studio are numbered, at least for now, and the survivors will be turning towards iOS and they will be starting small and agile." Stark plans to start his own small studio to develop games for the mobile market now that KMM Brisbane has shut down.


4 Comments

fordy
fordy (on 18 October 2011)

@JEMC Keep in mind that in Australia, $60 for a game is cheap, since most AAA titles range in the $100 region. This is despite the AU$ being worth more than the US$ recently....

  • +2
Tammi
Tammi (on 19 October 2011)

That's the problem...too many people buying cheap downloaded games. It's ruining everything.

  • +1
JEMC
JEMC (on 18 October 2011)

While it's always sad to hear this kind of news, there is something that has bothered me in Mr Strak's statement: "People are either buying AAA games or they're buying $2 games on their iPhone. They're not really interested in a $60 'meh' game" What did they expect? 60$/€ is a lot of money this days and people want to buy the best they can with it. Maybe if the industry learned that not every game is worth those 60$/€ many companies, and jobs, could be saved.

  • +1
reviniente
reviniente (on 18 October 2011)

I'm astonished at the price of games down under. You practically need two jobs to be a gamer.

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