Combining artistry and technology

The global gaming sector is worth billions and Dunedin is increasingly grabbing a bigger slice of the pie with an impressive collection of innovative video game companies. In a series for The Star, reporter Simon Henderson meets some of the people behind this cutting edge industry.

Tucked away in a modest open plan office in South Dunedin, the staff of Balancing Monkey Games nurture a dedicated community of gamers around the world.

Their game Before We Leave was released on the Epic Game Store in May 2020 and was a hit with fans across the world for its non-violent approach to city building.

Managing director Anna Barham, who with husband Sam Barham owns the company, said a combination of creativity, technical knowledge and a focus on community were key to the strength of the company.

Along with Mr Barham as creative director, the team in Dunedin includes technical artist Isaac Bennett, producer Sarah Latta and senior artist Tom Garden.

"Everyone in the studio is really creative."

"For example, Sam comes from a technical background, but he’s always loved board games and has always wanted to create his own computer game."

Ms Latta is a theatre producer and writer on the side, and Mr Garden has been a video game artist for 10 years.

"He is highly experienced."

Other staff work remotely, including community manager Emily Latta who works in Auckland and programmer Mereana Johnston who lives in Wellington, but will be moving to Dunedin soon.

International talent, including Polish artist Rafal Urbanski, composer Benedict Nichols and sound designer James Dean helped bring the look and feel of the game to life.

"We’ve been really fortunate in the people that we’ve hired, I think we’ve got a brilliant team."

Technical and creative experience was a great combination, Mrs Barham said.

"Because there’s so much creativity, art, storytelling, as well as the technical side for you know, the geeky types."

Interactivity was another key aspect of being a video game company.

Many players take part in online discussions on platforms including instant messaging platform Discord and livestreaming service Twitch.

"We talk and there’s like our friends who come and watch our Twitch streams and so there’s a wonderful intersection of those three realms of creative, technical and community people."

While it was a positive experience operating a video game company in Dunedin, there were some challenges, including being able to attract staff.

Ensuring a diverse workforce was another challenge for the industry.

"I’d really love to see the industry changing to become more supportive of diversity in general," Mrs Barham said.

"All kinds of diversity, whether it’s ethnicity, gender, location, you know, the more different kinds of people you have in your company, the more creative and exciting your game can be."