Creative technologies | Global Australia

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Australia is a creative nation. Creative and cultural industries together contribute A$115 billion to GDP every year.

According to the Creative Skills for the Future Economy report, around one in 10 Australian employees are formally qualified in creative industries; and our tech industry is one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

Whether it’s using virtual reality to teach science or visual design to improve robots, the possibilities are endless. Australia shines when technology and creativity connect. The collision of ideas, skills, perspectives and collaborations foster new ways of thinking and working across the economy.

Arts and culture

Australia’s passion for the arts runs deep. A rich pool of creative talent, sophisticated approach to venue and precinct design, and world-class education make for a sector that contributes $115.2 billion to the economy every year.

Australia is home to hundreds of major arts organisations and venues, as well as thousands of individual arts practitioners, small businesses and not-for-profit organisations. From the grassroots level to the grand stage, Australia is a world leader in arts and culture.

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Digital games

Studios based in Australia are creating some of the world’s most popular games, making them a magnet for multimillion-dollar investment.

Our booming digital games industry is supported by a federal tax offset and state incentives worth up to 45% of eligible development costs:

Australia’s new Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) is a game changer. Worth up to A$20m a year, it provides a 30% refundable tax offset for eligible games with qualifying expenditure of more than A$500,000.
Games developers can combine DGTO with grants from Australian states and territories.
And grants via Screen Australia’s Games Expansion Pack initiative are open to games with budgets below $500,000.

It’s no wonder games studio income has doubled over the past five years.

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Film & visual effects

Australia is home to a thriving film industry and world-class studios creating state-of-the-art visual effects.

The sector comprises more than 3000 creative businesses working across all facets of film and tv production. An established network of government agencies and industry organisations – including Screen Australia and Ausfilm – support development, production and promotion as well as the people who make it happen. We are a magnet for international production. Our reputation for sophisticated, complex photo-real work has been forged partly through iconic franchises like The Avengers and the Harry Potter films. Spiderman: No Way Home and The Batman are just some of the large-scale foreign productions recently completing visual effects in Australia.

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Our thriving ecosystem

Here’s just some of what’s going on:

UAP (Urban Art Projects) collaborates with artists, architects, designers and developers to bring creativity to the public realm and expert resources to creativity.
Animal Logic is one of the world’s leading independent creative digital studios, producing award-winning design, visual effects and animation.
Rising Sun Pictures is a world-class visual effects company creating memorable screen moments.
BondiLabs works with government and industry to solve problems in food processing, biosecurity and logistics using AR, AI and IoT.
Opaque Media designs, builds and deploys cutting edge-software, including VR and AR, to help organisations of all types and sizes solve problems.
The Studio is a leading incubator, community, and co-working space for entrepreneurs, business, and industry professionals working in createch.
Sandpit creates and designs interactive experiences for cultural spaces using anything from architecture to projections.
The QUT Design Lab is a community of designers, engineers, roboticists, creative thinkers, makers, artists, health practitioners and innovators all working to transform ideas into tangible design artefacts, images, spaces, interactions and processes.
Creative Technology Australia brings together a range of technologies to enhance entertainment, sport, broadcast and exhibitions.

Success stories

A games developer from Sledgehammer Games edits game characters with two computer screens

Sledgehammer Games’s Aussie offshoot powers ahead

In 2019, US-based Sledgehammer Games chose Melbourne as a first stop in its global expansion program. After just three years, the Melbourne studio helped launch the latest first-person shooter game in the Call of Duty series: Call of Duty®: Vanguard.

Staffing levels in Melbourne now exceed 150. According to Chief Operating Officer, Andy Wilson, rapid growth in Australia is due to amazing talent and a passion for diversity.

‘There’s a freshness within Australia’s game development scene that is appreciated by our international colleagues,’ says Andy Wilson, Sledgehammer Games’ Chief Operating Officer ‘Australian game developers are thirsty for opportunity: they want to create awesome cultures within games.’

Rapid growth in Melbourne

Sledgehammer Games was founded in 2009 and is based in Foster City, California. It is best known for its contribution to the Call of Duty game franchise. Today, the company also has studios in Toronto, Canada and Guilford, UK.

When Sledgehammer first opened in Melbourne in 2019, it operated as a small team of engineers, but growth has been ultra-rapid. Three years later, and the Melbourne studio has grown exponentially and delivers the full gamut of AAA studio services.

‘We have grown into all core functions, including rendering, gameplay, audio and online,’ says Wilson. ‘We have rounded out the content and support side of the business with environment artists, concept artists, lighting artists, VFX artists, UI/UX developers and level designers.’

Talent and diversity

The Melbourne studio is built on talent and diversity, according to Wilson. He says the depth of talent in Australia would be extremely difficult to match elsewhere.

‘Australia is a melting pot of cultures and industries,’ he says. ‘It offers the possibility of finding talent that we could not otherwise access.’

Diversity is a big part of local success.

‘We believe strongly that diversity delivers value and richness,’ says Wilson. ‘We are working with fantastic intern partners that help us attract and engage candidates of varied experience.’

Returning Aussies skill up local studios

Wilson reports that Australian talent is also returning from overseas. This helps accelerate the build-up of local capabilities.

‘The scale of opportunity in the Australian games industry makes it an increasingly attractive choice for key ex-pat talent,’ he says.

‘The sheer number of experienced, talented developers we’ve been able to attract within a short time frame would be very difficult in other markets.’

Grants and incentives

Government support is also a factor. The renaissance in Australia’s games industry is partly due to the increased number of tax breaks and tax offsets available from the Federal Government, and from individual states and territories. This includes arts-funding bodies in Victoria.

‘VicScreen gave us a grant for our work on COD Vanguard,’ says Wilson. ‘This grant helped us offset some of our development costs – which were considerable.

‘More importantly, we have developed relationships with VicScreen that are ongoing and mutually beneficial.’

Australia’s core strengths

Sledgehammer Games now operates out of four countries. Wilson says that Australia brings its own, unique flavour to this creative mix.

‘Australia is a great place to make video games,’ says Wilson. ‘The talent, the support and the general attitude towards new entrants have all exceeded our expectations.’

Wilson says the prospects for the games industry in Australia are excellent.

‘All the factors that brought us here are still going strong,’ he says. ‘We have an eager, experienced and diverse pool of talent. We have supportive federal and state governments. And as each new player gains a foothold, the games industry gets stronger and creates rich new opportunities.’

Go further, faster with Austrade

International games companies are investing in the Australian games industry. To find out more – including state and federal tax concessions – please visit the digital games page.