Victoria’s trade with South Korea has nearly doubled since 2019, with promising export opportunities for Victorian businesses operating in a range of sectors including advanced manufacturing, life sciences, food and beverages and renewables.

Understanding the differences in business practices between South Korea and Australia is crucial for building strong partnerships and driving business success. To enhance Victorian businesses’ capabilities in engaging with the Korean market, Global Victoria partnered with the Australia-Korea Business Council (AKBC) to deliver a Korea Market Briefing and Cultural Capability Seminar. The seminar was aimed at businesses operating in the advanced manufacturing sector, to help seize the growing opportunities arising since the investment of Hanwha defence in Victoria.

The session included presentations by mRNA Victoria and two successful Victorian exporters – Invion and 360biolabs — all driving economic growth and innovation in Victoria and Korea.

Industry highlight: Creative Industries

Among the sectors offering growing opportunities for trade and investment are the creative industries, including broader technology and screen activities.

Victoria is Australia’s digital games capital and a global screen destination, home to over half of Australia’s globally recognised games studios.

Victorian developers are renowned for creating some of the world’s most exciting and award-winning games titles.

The State is home to Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty), EA Firemonkeys (The Sims Freeplay) and PlaySide. Playside is one of the largest independent developers in the world with over 300 employees, having created over 70 titles released across platforms.

The opportunity

According to Dr Jens Schroeder, Director of Industry & Member Relations at the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA), South Korea and Japan have a rich video game culture, including an appreciation of innovative concepts and engaging gameplay. Renowned for developing innovative and engaging games, Victorian (and Australian) developers are well-placed to collaborate with the North Asia market.

South Korea and Japan’s game production and consumption are comparatively insular, primarily focused on the PC and mobile platforms, with content catering strongly to domestic tastes. With expertise across all platforms and a proven track record of producing IP with worldwide appeal, Victorian developers offer complementary strengths to North Asian studios looking to expand into new markets.

Finally, the South Korean and Japanese consumer markets are one of the largest in the world with changing and ever-evolving preferences. Victorian businesses are well-placed to service the increasing appreciation for indie-style games that Australia is known for.

Success in North Asia

Victorian game developers have participated in G-STAR – Korea’s premier digital games event for over five years. Participation has led to opportunities for collaboration with Korean game distributors and e-sports organisations, positioning Victoria as an internationally attractive digital games destination.

Victorian games showcased at BitSummit – Japan’s industry-leading independent games development festival held between 10-21 July 2024. The titles highlight the diversity, creativity and skill of our sector. Projects included:

• Massive Monster – Cult of the Lamb: Unholy Alliance
• Hipster Whale – Crossy Road Castle
• Catchweight Studio – Conscript.

Victorian developers have also received global recognition at major international awards, with recent notable achievements including:

• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical from Summerfall Studios was nominated for Best Debut Game at the 2024 BAFTA Games Awards and received a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and other Interactive Media.
• Final Profit: A Shop RPG was nominated for Excellence in Design at the 2024 IGF Awards.
• The Artful Escape by Beethoven and Dinosaur won the Artistic Achievement Award at the BAFTA Games Awards in 2022.
• Untitled Goose Game from House House received the Family Award at the BAFTA Games Awards in 2020.
• Olivia Haine’s Surf Club was showcased at Day of the Devs.

Opportunities for North Asia in Victoria

There’s also a reciprocal opportunity for North Asia companies in Victoria since Melbourne hosts Melbourne International Games Week — the fastest-growing digital games event in the southern hemisphere, attracting more than 85,000 in-person and 1 million online visitors. The Week also includes one of the fastest-growing regional marketplaces for games, Play Now Melbourne, where publishers and developers converge.

Businesses interested in making games in Victoria may also be eligible for the Victorian Digital Screen Rebate (VDSR) program, an economic development initiative that offers grants to digital games, animation, post-production and visual effects (VFX) projects to be undertaken in Victoria.

Victorian companies are also able to access Federal programs, including Screen Australia’s Games Funding, and the Digital Games Tax Offset.

Victorian Government support

Victoria’s creative industries play an important role in the state’s economy, with a contribution of A$40.3 billion, 47, 933 Victorian creative businesses and over 300,000 jobs created across the State (FY2022-2023).

The Victorian Government supports the digital games and wider screen industry, through Creative Victoria and VicScreen.

VicScreen is the government’s Creative and Economic Development Agency for Screen. VICSCREEN: Victoria’s Screen Industry Strategy 2021-2025 includes a $191.5 million investment designed to ensure Victoria is a global powerhouse for screen – enriching the lives of all Victorians.

For instance, the Victorian Production Fund and Originate Games are designed to support Victorian studios to develop original intellectual property and successfully release their titles into the global marketplace.

Creative Victoria is the State Government body dedicated to championing, growing and supporting Victoria's creative industries, which spans the performing and visuals arts, music, design, digital game development, film and television, fashion, literature and publishing, and more.

Through the Victorian Government Trade and Investment (VGTI) office in Seoul, Global Victoria facilitates strategic partnerships with Korea by offering a range of services to maximise trade outcomes for Victorian businesses. That includes supporting trade missions, leveraging industry networks, and providing market intelligence to facilitate market entry and expansion into Korea.

Forward look

Melbourne International Games Week (3-10 October 2024)

Melbourne International Games Week is the fastest-growing digital games event in the southern hemisphere, attracting more than 85,000 in-person and 1 million online visitors.

Play Now Melbourne (10 October 2024)

Play Now Melbourne is Australia’s pre-eminent games market where publishers and developers converge, taking place during Melbourne International Games Week.