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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Parking plan rethink urged
A Punakaiki cafe owner is urging the Department of Conservation to rethink its plan to charge for parking at the Pancake Rocks on the West Coast, saying it was acting as an entry fee to a national park. Grant Parrett told a meeting of the West Coast Tai o Poutini Conservation Board last week parking charges created a de facto entry fee to Paparoa National Park, which was unlawful. Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has asked for a trial of paid parking to boost revenue. Doc is aiming to launch a pilot programme in October at Punakaiki, Franz Josef and White Horse Hill at Aoraki/Mt Cook. Project manager John Dore told the board Doc had serious budget pressures including a 30% shortfall in funding for its visitor network and a huge deficit in the amount available for biodiversity. "For protection of all endangered species we have a budget of $300 million — but a need of $2.3 billion." Climate events in the last few years had added $90m in costs. Paid parking was a tool used internationally in nature parks and would help manage overcrowding at busy sites, he told the board. But Mr Parrett said the move would turn public conservation land into a Wilson-style parking lot, and urged the board to oppose it. "However you label it, it's a national park entry fee; it contravenes the National Parks Act and it diminishes Doc's social licence to operate." There were no free parks at Punakaiki because they had been removed to make room for the new visitor centre development and people would have no option but to pay to walk around the Pancake Rocks. Unlike Franz Josef or Aoraki/Mt Cook, Punakaiki was not a tourist destination but a stop-off attraction for people driving the scenic Coast Rd, and for most of the year there was no congestion or capacity problem in the carpark. "Parking fees will disadvantage local people who call in for a coffee or to stretch their legs." While Doc owned the land, taxpayers had funded the $45m Dolomite Point Visitor Centre development and the building was gifted by the last government to manawhenua, Ngati Waewae, who now leased office space back to Doc, Mr Parrett said. "I am surprised that the iwi has supported the paid parking trial ... unless they stand to benefit from it." Conservation Board Ngati Waewae representative Francois Tumahai objected. "I disagree with everything you've said. "The cost of the building was not $45m and we're not getting a cent from the project. "In the early days we suggested we might provide [parking] wardens — that's it." By Lois Williams
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
Path of Exile maker Grinding Gear Games reports $105m revenue, new CEO
Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006 by Westies Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers and Erik Olofsson, a Swede they met while playing online. Grinding Gear Games' co-founders (from left) Chris Wilson, Jonathan Rogers and Eric Olofsson, pictured near their Henderson office in 2014. Photo / Richard Robinson They used crowdfunding to grow Path of Exile (still the firm's only title). In 2018, Tencent bought an 88% stake in Grinding Gear Games for what the Overseas Investment Office said was a 'consideration that exceeds $100 million'. Over the intervening years, Tencent has gradually bought up the founders' remaining stakes. It now has 100% ownership. Throughout, Wilson remained as chief executive and held a seat on the board as well. Co-founder leaves for new project In January, Path of Exile fans noted his absence from the game. In February, he resigned as a director, with Rogers taking his place on the board and also taking over the reins as CEO. Wilson was the second of the three founders to depart. Olofsson left Grinding Gear in 2022 to found Erik's Curiosa, maker of an old-school offline game, Sorcery: Contested Realm. Wilson told the Herald he's founded a start-up, Light Pattern – a new game studio that's recruiting staff. He would only offer: 'I am intentionally not talking about my new project for a few years, so that I don't set any expectations.' Staff numbers jump, Exile 2 close Meanwhile, Rogers was happy to give an update on Grinding Gear's progress in its new financial year. 'In December, we released our sequel, Path of Exile 2, into Early Access and reached the number one position on the global top sellers list of Steam [online gaming distribution platform] with over 850,000 players online, more than doubling the previous PoE1 [Path of Exile] record,' he said. 'We have over 240 staff in New Zealand now and are continuing to hire – although we are quickly running out of office space. 'Contrast that to April 2024, when we only had 180 staff in-house.' READ MORE: Video game sector jobs up 20.5% with tax rebate, but half of funds unclaimed When Tencent took control in 2018, Grinding Gear had 114 staff at its long-time headquarters – a nondescript office building near the Henderson Pak'nSave (a contrast to another Tencent investment – RocketWerkz with its spacecraft-themed digs at the top of the new PwC Tower on Auckland's waterfront). 'Our major goal now is to finish Path of Exile 2 and get it out of Early Access and into full release. We don't have an announced timeline for that, but we will continue to release content for it every four months until it's done,' Rogers said. 'In the meantime, Path of Exile 1 continues to get content updates every four months as well.' The rising Auckland staff numbers will be music to the ears of the Government and NZ on Air – or at least a relief that a new 20% rebate is working (an NZ on Air report had total game sector employment rising by a fifth to 1300 in the year to March). Wilson was one of the industry leaders who said they they would be forced to set up shop in Australia in order to remain competitive in the talent war, if New Zealand did not match the tax rebates being offered cross the Tasman. Grinding Gear was a recipient in the latest NZ on Air funding round. (The scheme offers 20c back on every $1 spent on a video game, up to a $3m cap.) Postscript: A Musk moment Path of Exile has long been a favourite with the fantasy crowd, but also had a mainstream media moment in January when Elon Musk claimed to be one of the game's top players. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder used X, formerly Twitter to highlight his Path of Exile skills as part of a social media showcase designed to reveal his 'world-class' skills playing various titles, which he had bragged about on Joe Rogan's podcast. But as the New York Times reported on January 26: 'The community of gamers he's long tried to impress turned against him. It started with a livestream of Mr Musk playing Path of Exile, a popular action role-playing game known for its difficulty. Despite his account showing he had earned one of the game's highest levels, his game play looked like that of an amateur." Internet sleuths made YouTube videos and took to Reddit threads to dissect his game play, exposing mistakes a novice would make, the Times said. There were allegations that Musk was guilty of 'boosting' – hiring a skilled gamer on the sly to log on to his account and build it up. There was circumstantial evidence for the frowned-up practice (and it does go to the heart of the gaming ethos; the 'Grinding' in Grinding Gear Games is a nod to what fantasy players called 'the grind' of building a character). 'Gamers pointed out that Musk's Path of Exile account has been active at times he couldn't have been playing himself, like on Monday [January 20] morning, while he was at Trump's inauguration,' the Times reported. Musk was accused of the same jape with another popular game, Diablo IV, for the same reasons. Wilson has maintained a diplomatic silence. Ninja Kiwi takes profit, revenue hits Ninja Kiwi was founded by Kumeū brothers Chris Harris (left) and Stephen Harris. Meanwhile, Ninja Kiwi has reported a $28.8m net profit on $77.6m revenue for the year to December 31, 2024 – down from its $40.9m profit on $89.5m revenue for 2023. The result was net of a $32.0m dividend paid to its Scandinavian owner, down from $42m last year. The mobile gaming specialist was bought by Sweden's Modern Times Group (MTG) in a 2021 deal worth kr1.2 billion (Swedish krona, $203m) – with kr406m ($68m) of that total being contingent on performance targets. In 2020, the Technology Investment Network estimated Ninja Kiwi's revenue at $50m for its TIN200 list of our largest tech exporters. Ninja Kiwi was founded by Kumeū brothers Chris and Stephen Harris. It first released its hit game Bloons in 2007. The founders could not be immediately reached for comment. The game had some six million active users at the time of the company's Swedish takeover. LinkedIn Insights says Ninja Kiwi has 18 staff currently, including seven in Auckland (the rest are in the UK – primarily Scotland, where it bought another small gaming studio ahead of the MTG acquisition), from 16 in 2023. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- NZ Herald
Domestic tourism surges in Rotorua as Aucklanders return
The mayor praised the 'Robe Trip' marketing campaign, which was aimed at highlighting Rotorua's standing as a destination for luxury and relaxation. The campaign ran over six weeks in February and March across multiple media, including a television ad featuring Tapsell. According to figures the council released to the Taxpayers' Union in March, the ad cost just under $94,000 to produce and broadcast. RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said they were very pleased with the results of the Robe Trip campaign. About three-quarters (73%) of Aucklanders surveyed would consider Rotorua for a holiday or breakaway after the campaign, up from 34% pre-campaign. 'This was a bold and deliberate move to reposition Rotorua in the minds of New Zealanders – especially young and mid-life Auckland couples – as a destination for luxury, relaxation and indulgence.' Over the course of the campaign, there was a 9.4% increase in visitor spend by Aucklanders in the city and a 5% year-on-year rise on hotel occupancy. In comparison, there were 1.4% and 4.4% decreases respectively across the nation. RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson. Photo / Laura Smith Spending by domestic visitors from across the whole of New Zealand, not just Auckland, went up 14.3% year-on-year in Rotorua in May – compared to a 0.1% drop nationally. In addition, 76% of New Zealanders surveyed rated Rotorua as appealing to visit, with 35% intending to do so in the next 12 months. Traditionally, Rotorua's heritage has marked it as the birthplace of Kiwi tourism, but it had also grown into a mecca for adventure seekers, Wilson said. 'The push towards luxury and relaxation is not about abandoning our adventure roots. 'It's about expanding our narrative. Rotorua has always been a place of restoration and manaakitanga [hospitality]. We're simply reminding Kiwis of that in a fresh, relatable way,' Wilson said. The recent rise in domestic tourism has also been noticed by those in the industry. Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button said he has seen an improvement domestically compared to 12 months ago. Last year, the country was in the grip of the cost-of-living crisis as households tightened budgets and went without getaways, he said. Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button. Photo / Andrew Warner 'I don't think there's one silver bullet,' said Button. 'Last year, domestically, it fell off. We had an abrupt drop in May and our research suggested it was economy-related. 'It's definitely still tough out there and I am not going to pretend it's not but interest rates have dropped and things might be getting better.' Button said Rotorua's desirability had also returned. The pandemic had a major impact on the city, while the subsequent period of emergency housing compounded the city's tourism struggles, he said. Emergency housing motels in Rotorua are being wound down by the Government, with a plan to stop contracting motels by the end of 2025. Hennessey's Irish Bar owner Reg Hennessey. Photo / Andrew Warner 'A lot less use of motels for social housing has really helped,' said Reg Hennessey, owner of the locally famous Hennessey's Irish Bar on Tutanekai St. 'This school holiday was good and domestic tourism has definitely picked up, it's taken quite a bump this year. 'Now we are just getting the good word back out to New Zealand that it's a safe town and people can always feel safe here because of the way it's operated.' Tapsell also highlighted new efforts to attract more international visitors, as Rotorua Lakes Council funded promotion through an economic development rate on short-term accommodation providers. 'Tourism and hospitality contribute significantly to jobs in Rotorua,' she said. 'Attracting visitors can be very competitive, not just to get them to our district, but also to our country. It's important that we don't get complacent, so we've put a lot of effort and smart investment into unique initiatives to promote Rotorua.' She said the council was excited to continue to see the results of this. Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years. – LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
