CODE and Chromacon join forces for WePlay

Chromacon, in partnership with CODE, PikPok and Dinosaur Polo Club, showcased eight NZ games at WePlay Expo 2024 in Shanghai, China.

Pictured: CODE teams at WePlay with our fantastic Chromacon volunteers.

WePlay, established and organised by CiGA (China Indie Game Alliance) since 2017, is the largest indie-friendly gaming culture festival in China, including 300 teams from worldwide, more than 400 games, and attracting over 15,000 visitors. 

With assistance from seasoned ally and organiser Allan Xia of Chromacon NZ, CODE arranged for an Aotearoa New Zealand pavilion build and presence, and selected four* studios to showcase their games at the Chromacon booth, alongside PikPok, Dinosaur Polo Club, Mighty Eyes and Whistling Wizard.

• Match & Mastery - Four Fox Interactive

• Project Mix - Plectrum XR

• How Was Your Day? - Mad Carnival

• Shape Sender Deluxe - Dead Teapot Games

Pictured L-R: Nathaniel Pennington (FourFox Interactive); Yuewei Zhang (Plectrum XR); Sam Ramlu (Mad Carnival); Tana Tanoi (Dead Teapot Ltd.).

The booth provided an excellent space for engaging in conversations with consumers, publishers, service providers and media, allowing them to directly talk to devs about their games. 

We were fortunate to have Allan Xia and Morgan Wang throughout the entirety of the trip for translation whenever needed, making networking easy and efficient.

Pictured: Chromacon New Zealand Games Pavilion was situated directly across from the main stage and was packed all weekend. WePlay has the benefit of being almost entirely indie game focussed, creating an atmosphere of excitement as players attended specifically to discover new indie titles.

In China, a culture of exchange is supported by apps like WeChat, which enable people to exchange details by scanning a QR code. WeChat was crucial for networking and proved very beneficial during our stay. However, it's important to mention that most people had VPNs and were quite willing to switch to Western networks to accommodate foreigners.

Shape Sender Deluxe and Match & Mastery were chosen for UCG Media slots in their streaming lineup, providing both games with significant media exposure in China that wouldn't happen elsewhere globally.

Pictured: Shaper Sender Deluxe (L) and Match & Mastery (R) games streaming at the UCG media booth

The teams also participated in the China Indie Game Association Developer Conference (CiGADC), attended three industry networking events, and had the opportunity to visit three studios/publishers in Shanghai during the five days.

At CiGADC, Tana Tanoi from Dead Teapot and Dinosaur Polo Club delivered a presentation on “Prototyping Minimalist Simulation Games," which was met with great enthusiasm. The audience was not only familiar with the featured titles, but they also engaged with insightful questions and provided excellent feedback during the conference.

Pictured: Tana Tanoi presents at China Indie Game Alliance Developers Conference (CiGADC)

In meetings with publishers, it became evident that they were more knowledgeable and at ease with publishing games in China (as anticipated); however, most of the publishers we engaged with showed interest in expanding their publishing efforts to international markets. They were also open to co-publish for Asian audiences, particularly if a game already released hasn't gained much traction in China.

The publishers showed shared interests with Western publishers, such as replayability, systemic elements, and deep strategy, but they seemed more open to exploring different avenues for the artistic value of games and not quick to reject a game based on its genre.

Pictured: CODE and NZ devs visit with publishers in Shanghai, China

In summary, WePlay was a successful event by multiple measures and is definitely worth considering for future participation. A massive shout out to Allan Xia at Chromacon NZ, without his support our campaign to WePlay would not have been made possible.

For more WePlay 2024 NZ Games Showcase highlights, check out @chromaconnz.

*The teams were assisted by CODE’s Travel Grant for international game development industry events, and continue to receive support with commercial follow ups and business opportunities following WePlay.

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Expressions of Interest for NZ CODE Round 6 Travel Grant funding will be re-opened in April 2025. Please check the Travel Grant Guidelines on our Funding page for more information.