Tim Ponting, Chief Executive of CODE – Interview Series

CODE, a New Zealand-based company that provides  local game studios the tools to establish their dream projects, is working tirelessly to finesse and pepper its three pillar formula into the creative process of conceiving, building, and sustaining memorable works of art from around the nation. The team, which has already helped dozens of studios to bring their visions to the world, will now be gearing up to evolve its brand and double up its existing portfolio over the forthcoming season with the full backing of an entire ecosystem of creators. As for what CODE has planned for the near future, well, that’s another question, and one that I couldn’t help but bring to the table when I sat down with Chief Executive, Tim Ponting.

Thanks for being here with us today — we really appreciate the chance to sit down and speak with you about CODE and the game development scene in New Zealand. Before we jump into all of that, though, would you mind introducing yourself to our readers and telling us a bit more about your involvement with CODE?

Tim: I started out life as a musician who went into music journalism and from there to 11-odd years editing and publishing magazines and websites about video games. That started back in the late 80s when Atari ST and Commodore Amiga sat alongside 8 and 16-bit consoles and PC was just ramping up as a gaming platform.

I hopped over from media to Activision, where I ran all the European comms teams in the early to late noughties. I worked on 143 titles from the first Call of Duty, the Pro Skater franchise, Guitar Hero and also 33 LucasArts games of the era. After that I ran my own PR agency for many years, getting more and more involved with indie studios. I ended up investing personally in a handful of NZ indie studios, and then was asked to run the New Zealand Centre of Digital Excellence – CODE.

Tell us about CODE, if you’d be so kind. What brought this idea to life?

Tim: It started life as a manifesto commitment from the New Zealand Labour Party to build a game dev hub in the South Island city of Ōtepoti – Dunedin. I’d worked on the proposal based on my experiences working across all of Europe, and all the mistakes that had been made setting up government programs there. I had a pretty clear vision of what was needed. Then COVID hit! Given no one could be recruited at that time, they asked me to launch the program while we were in lockdown. I only meant to do it for a year, but here we are 5 years later! It was an amazing opportunity to help talented indie teams get their games out to the wider world. In 2 years, we saw the creation of 25 teams in a city of 140,000, and we pitched the government to allow us to work nationally. They increased our funding, and we now cover all of Aotearoa, not just Dunedin.

Please could you tell us more about this mission to build an ecosystem for the New Zealand game development industry? What are your aspirations for the future, and how exactly do you plan on achieving these goals?

Tim: It’s a simple formula. We have three pillars – funding, capability and pathways. Funding helps teams bridge the gap from self-funded projects to the point they can make partnerships to get to market. Capability we address with mentorships and workshops. And pathways are mostly working with education providers to improve their training and build bridges to industry.

We have a unique funding model – all the decisions regarding which teams get funding are made by an independent, diverse, rotated group of local and international experts in the industry, which allows the CODE team to get close to developers and support them on a daily basis without conflicts of interest. All too often, funding bodies have to maintain distance from the industry they support to avoid these conflicts, and so money is allocated, and teams are left to fend for themselves. We help mentor teams that fail to get across the line so they can be successful in the future. Every funding round pretty much we have teams that failed in an earlier funding round succeeding.

Do you have any words of advice for independent developers who might be struggling to establish their presence in the New Zealand gaming space? If so, would you mind if we asked you for the best pointers for finding a foothold in the industry?

Tim: Where to start! Don’t make the game you’ve always dreamed of making. Instead brainstorm 20 small, tightly constrained games you can demonstrate gamers want to play by analysing marketplaces like Steam. Read Gamediscover.co for help with this kind of thing. Prototype the ones that appeal to you. Find the fun. Make that game, and keep the scope under control. See if you can release a small game without publisher support on your own, learn how the platforms work. Come to every CODE workshop – they’re free for all New Zealanders – join our Discord, talk to other devs going through the same thing. Apply for Kickstart funding with your next game. We’re interested in supporting teams with realistic visions and an eye to building sustainable studios.

We would love to hear more about the success stories that you’ve helped bring to fruition since CODE’s launch. Please could you tell us more about some of those special underdog tales, if applicable?

Tim: Every indie journey is an underdog’s tale. Every single developer we have supported on their journey deserves a medal – it’s such a hard thing to do. Some of the earliest teams from the original regional development fund finished games and made it to market against all odds when the publishing market was awful – like Josiah at Hyporeal with Blackheart, and teams like Usual Suspects Studios who launched It’s Only Money, a game only Kiwis could have made (it’s hilarious) and of course the one from Dunedin that you’ll probably have come across – Abiotic Factor from Deep Field Games.

But there are so many studios across the country making great games with our support now. We’re very excited about the slate coming through from the first two national funding rounds, and we’ve just launched the third. For a list of all the games we have supported in one way or another, head to the website.

Let’s talk about the future; specifically, the forthcoming quarter. What are your plans for the next three months, if you don’t mind me asking? Do you have your sights set on any particular projects or milestones?

Tim: For us, this will be a planning and building time – we’ll have just got back from supporting teams pitching at GDC in San Francisco thanks to the awesome New Zealand Trade & Enterprise team, and we’ll be getting further teams ready for Gamescom in Germany in August. We’re running Dunedin Round 10 and National Round 11 funding now, so the Assessment Panels will be busy working through those entries when they are finally in. The next quarter will see Mune’s Brews & Bastards shipping with support from Microsoft which is exciting!

Where might we be able to find some more information on CODE and its ongoing efforts to broaden the NZ gaming ecosystem? Are there any important social feeds, newsletters, or event roadmaps that we ought to be taking note of ahead of the second quarter?

Tim: Best thing to do is visit https://www.nz-code.nz for more information about our work. Our funding rounds generally open early in the year, January or February, so depending on when this is published, studios may just be able to squeeze in an expression of interest for our National Round 11 which closes March 25th. And we’ll see you at NZGDC, Gamescom and PAX this year if you want to drop by and say hi.

Is there anything else you would like to add to this story before we wrap it up? Do you have any last-minute words for our readers, perhaps?

Tim: You don’t have to make your magnum opus straight out of university! It’s great to get experience if you can at a studio before you embark on your own indie journey. Keep believing in yourself and make the most of the opportunities you can find. Every studio in NZ is home grown, even the giants like Grinding Gear Games and PikPok. They all started tiny and just kept the faith.

Thanks again for taking the time out of your schedule to speak with us about CODE, Tim. Best of luck with the next step in your journey!

You can find more information on CODE by following the official X handle here. For even more updates, be sure to visit the website here.