“We are hard at work on the full release and hope to see continued success for the 1.0 launch later this year.”
After $73.9m in tax and other expenses, GGG made a net profit of $191.7m versus $38.6m for its 12-month FY2024 period.
GGG paid $110.2m in dividends to Tencent, from $98.7m for the prior period.
Total remuneration for “directors and key executives” was $48.9m from FY2024’s $11.4m.
$6m from taxpayers
GGG features an NZ on Air logo on its homepage – a nod to the fact that last year it received the maximum $3m under the $40m per year Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR), which returns 20c on every dollar spent to create a game in a bid to keep game developers onshore.
The firm also received $3m from the tax rebate in FY2024.
Before the rebate was introduced, GGG co-founder Chris Wilson was one of the gaming executives who said he was weighing whether to open operations across the Tasman. An existing gaming sector rebate was tilting the pitch in the fight for skilled staff.
As Budget 2026 confirmed the rebate would continue, the NZ Game Development Association revealed the industry had generated more than $1 billion in the year to March, 2026 – hitting its 2028 target two years early.
The NZGDA now predicts $2 billion in video game revenue by the end of the decade, with nearly all of it from exports.
The group’s executive director, Joy Keene, said last year, for every $1 doled out under the rebate, the Crown received $4.74 in income tax and PAYE paid by video game companies as the GDSR fuelled local growth.
That multiple is set to increase once FY2026 numbers are finalised in September.
GGG stays local, more than doubles staff
Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006 by Westies Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers and Erik Olofsson, a Swede they met while playing online.
The trio crowd-funded to build the type of game they would want to play themselves. Path of Exile caught on like wildfire.
In 2018, Tencent took an 87% stake for an undisclosed amount north of the Overseas Investment Office’s $100m approval threshold.
Over the following years, the Chinese giant (which owns WeChat and has a 40% stake in Fortnite founder Epic Games) lifted its stake to 100%.
But the co-founders have stayed true to a pledge to stay in control, and keep jobs local.
Wilson remained chief executive until last year, when he handed over the reins to Rogers – who has a seat on the four-person board (the other three directors are Tencent appointees).
On Monday, Rogers told the Herald that GGG is still based in Auckland, with 260 staff – an increase of 20 since this time last year. At the time of the Tencent takeover eight years ago, there were 114.
The company is currently hiring for 12 roles, all in Auckland.
Co-founder hiring for new venture
The founders’ spoils are also being recycled back into the start-up ecosystem.
Wilson has founded a new gaming studio, Light Pattern, which is working on a secret title.
“We have 10 people in-house at the moment and don’t plan to grow above 20 or so,” Wilson said.
“It’ll probably be a few years before we have a game to announce. We’re taking it easy and savouring the development process.”
Zen year for NinjaKiwi
Meanwhile, NinjaKiwi had a less-frenetic year.
The mobile games specialist, best-known for its global hit Bloons, had $71.7m revenue for the year to December 31, 2025, down from the year-ago $77.6m.
After expenses, including $7.1m in income tax, it made a net profit of $24.1m, from the year-ago $28.7m.
Revenue included $1.1m from the Government’s game sector rebate.
A $25.5m dividend was paid to NinjaKiwi’s owner, Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG), from the year-ago $32m.
MTG bought Ninja Kiwi from Kumeu brothers Chris and Stephen Harris in 2021 for around $203m. Neither could immediately be reached for comment.
Accounts weren’t published before the takeover, but the Technology Investment Network (TIN) estimated NinjaKiwi revenue at $50m for the year to March 31, 2021.
LinkedIn insights puts NinjaKiwi staff at 72 steady since the takeover, when numbers were put at 70.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
