While international video game developers pinch their pennies, Canberra’s local studios are growing strong. Image: Submerged, Uppercut Games.
Did you know 82 per cent of Australians play video games?
For young people, games are a great way to de-stress and socialise. Parents use them to connect and have fun with their kids. Older gamers don’t just play for fun – they also do it to keep their brains fit and active.
Whether you’re a hardcore PC player, jump on the Xbox a few times a week, or just pull up a mobile game while you wait for the bus, you belong to a growing cohort that contributes in no small part to our creative economy.
The national industry generated more than $608 million in FY25, according to the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association.
“Our industry is small but mighty with a global audience,” CEO Ron Curry says.
“We have a positive outlook for the year ahead. Lots of mature studios are planning to hire. Punching above their weight is something local developers are very, very good at.”
Independent or ‘indie’ studios far outweigh big-budget companies in Canberra.
Many are founded by veteran developers who began their careers working on popular ‘AAA’ titles. Uppercut Games co-founders Andrew James, Ed Orman, and Ryan Lancaster are three such developers.
They worked on several heavy-hitting titles under 2K Australia (formerly Irrational Games), including the sensational 2007 first-person shooter, BioShock.
The trio established Uppercut Games in 2011 and released the mobile shooter EPOCH the same year.
“We were excited by the opportunity to make something small, thoughtful, and entirely our own,” Andrew says.
“We had a really lofty goal of using our experience with Unreal Engine to make a game that looked like Gears of War, but played like Fruit Ninja. That’s what inspired EPOCH.”
Uppercut Games’ progress remained slow and steady for the first decade or so – whatever the team made off one game went towards creating the next one.
The studio is perhaps best known for exploration game Submerged (2015) and its sequel Submerged: Hidden Depths (2020). Both titles skip combat entirely, focusing instead on the player’s environment and light puzzle-solving.
“We discovered a wonderful niche with Submerged,” Ed says.
“It’s all about atmosphere, movement, and a story through which the player is taken on a journey around a sunken city. People found it relaxing; they enjoyed exploring such a beautiful world with no time constraints.”
But making Submerged wouldn’t have been possible without help.
Uppercut Games was one of the first beneficiaries of the Australian Interactive Games Fund, which was administered through Screen Australia and later discontinued.
“These funds don’t just go into a company and disappear. They allow studios to take on new talent, which overall results in more games, better games, that connect deeply with the end user,” Andrew says.
“We want to keep doing what we do best. That’s the dream. But we also hope, in terms of a legacy, that Uppercut Games is a catalyst for the next generation of creatives to learn, hone their craft, then go off and make their own amazing games.”
So, what’s on the horizon for the Uppercut crew? There’s something pretty incredible in the works, but it’s a (very) well-kept secret.
The project recently landed a grant from Screen Canberra, which now supports video games as well as film and television, and has already secured an international publishing deal.
“Our current project is the biggest, most ambitious thing Uppercut Games has ever done,” Ed says.
“We think it’s the best game we’ve ever made, and we can’t wait to announce it, but you’ll have to watch this space for a little while longer.”
Check out CanDev to explore other video games made on local soil.
Original Article published by Morgan Kenyon on Region Canberra.