The Dunedin company, which is developing the Casebook crime game series, is one of eight New Zealand finalists selected from 50 entries around the country to take part in the World Summit Award (WSA) in Delhi, India, next month.
The two-yearly awards were started as a result of the United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003, and aimed to promote the development and sharing of technological innovation to bridge the digital divide.
Regional competitions were held around the world, with several hundred finalists selected from 170 countries this year to compete for one of 40 international awards across eight categories.
Areo's award was for the best e-Entertainment and Games offering in New Zealand, and the company will compete alongside Air New Zealand and Te Papa, among others, for an international award in Delhi.
Areo chief financial officer Graham Hambleton told the Otago Daily Times the company's nomination, alongside other older and larger New Zealand companies, was "an honour".
"The other people who have been nominated, Air New Zealand and Te Papa . . . you think, 'Wow'.
"These are organisations and companies that have been around a long time and here we are, a little old Dunedin company."
Areo's success was based on the development of a new digital photographic technique, using a robot-guided camera and rig to capture thousands of images of an object or space from each angle.
The result was a large step up in realism, as players navigated photorealistic 3D gaming environments, and faster game-build times.
The first two episodes of the company's six-part Casebook series have already received good reviews, resulting in the company last week being named the Best Independent Adventure Game of 2008 in the Adventuregamers.com website awards.
The recent successes had helped build momentum for the company, and a WSA award would only add to that, Mr Hambleton said.
"If we win it, it's a very big deal."
Areo is the brand born from the merger of the associated Dunedin companies Clocktower Games and Areograph Ltd in December last year.
The company employed 14 permanent staff, rising to 30 during the filming of cinematic sequences for the Casebook series, Mr Hambleton said.
