What we’re about
The Christchurch Game Developers Association frequently offers events in person or digitally to create conversations and share stories, encourage community growth, connection-building and the sharing of knowledge and expertise.
A typical meetup includes:
- A Guest Speaker or Panel presenting on a core topic
- An opportunity for Q&A with our Guest Speakers
- Games Industry News and Events from around New Zealand
- Screen & Games Industry Job Opportunities
- Casual networking over pizza
Originally founded in 2015, the Christchurch Game Developers Association (CGDA) is an organisation dedicated to supporting the local Ōtautahi Christchurch Game Development Community.
CGDA works with local sponsors and tertiary institutes to provide monthly Meetup Events, featuring a wide variety of Talks from local and international guest speakers. We also facilitate Canterbury sites for Game Jams (weekend-long collaborative game creation events) and Playtest Exhibitions, with the goal of showcasing local talent and illuminating pathways into the Game Development Industry.
Check us out on:
Web: https://chch.gamedev.co.nz
Discord: https://discord.gg/68YqqFZ
Facebook: fb.me/CHCHGameDev
Twitter: @CHCHGameDev
Help us grow on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CHCHGameDev
Upcoming events (1)
See all- July CGDA Meetup - Julian GosiengfiaoEPIC Innovation, Christchurch
Welcome to the July 2025 Christchurch Game Developers' Meetup!
Location:
EPIC Innovation, 106 Manchester St, Christchurch 8011The meetup will also be streamed online:
[Link to be added]Don't forget to check us out at:
Website: https://chch.gamedev.co.nz
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/CHCHGameDev
Facebook: https://fb.me/CHCHGameDev
Discord: https://discord.gg/68YqqFZ
If you like our meetups, consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/CHCHGameDev
***Speaker - Julian Gosiengfiao
Julian is a new arrival to Christchurch, bringing 16 years of game design, product and leadership experience with him. He previously served as the product owner and design director for Subway Surfers City at SYBO, taking the game team from inception to soft launch, and levelling up SYBO’s new games pipeline. In his spare time, he likes surfskating, improv & theater, urban dance and solo gamedev projects.6:15 PM - KICK OFF
Welcome to the Christchurch Game Developers Meetup, with news from around New Zealand!6:30 PM - Preserving Judgement and Collaboration in Gamedev
In this session, Julian will run through “natural barriers” to everyday judgement and collaboration he’s encountered across multiple midsize teams (8~25) and studios, and the general solves he’s seen repeated from team to team. This is a talk for designers, producers, leaders or anyone finding themselves in a position to influence their team’s daily ways of working. (This is a preview/test-run of a talk for NZGDC 2025. Ask questions, give feedback or just pull faces from the back row, all feedback is good feedback!)7:00 PM - PIZZA
Enjoy some refreshments (AKA pizza) and catch up with/meet other game dev enthusiasts.Event Photography Notice: The CGDA occasionally takes photos and/or videos at our events for promotional purposes. If you would prefer not to have your image recorded for marketing purposes, please make your wishes known to the photographer, and/or reach out to a committee member, and we will accommodate your request. Thank you!
***Massive thanks to all our supporters for making our meetups possible!
Our Corporate Supporters:
Yoobee College of Creative Innovation - a tertiary institute committed to developing creative and technical talent across New Zealand.
https://www.yoobee.ac.nz/courses/HIT Lab NZ - a multidisciplinary, Human-Centred Research environment that collaborates with industry.
https://www.hitlabnz.org/CerebralFix - a Christchurch-based game development studio specializing in work for hire from some amazing companies.
https://cerebralfix.com/Screen Canterbury NZ - a Canterbury-based film office helping creatives get their projects delivered to the screens of their choice, providing fantastic resource-sharing & advocacy for our screen production industry.
https://www.christchurchnz.com/screen-canterburynzAnd our awesome Patreon Supporters:
Matt Barton
Leith Caldwell
Samantha Cook
Nik Scarr
Carl de Visser
Alexander Swords
