Play by Play is a New Zealand games conference with a difference!

Back for 2025 in the beating cultural heart of the country, Wellington, Play by Play is a New Zealand games conference with a difference. Since our inception in 2016, we’ve grown exponentially, proving that there’s a vibrant community of gamers, enthusiasts and curious folk in the play sphere.

Our humble conference began life as a city-wide festival celebrating everything related to games and play. Since our 2019 event, Play by Play has broken away from the festival as an entity and now sits under the umbrella of the NZ Games Festival.

Play by Play runs for two whole days. These days, there will be a diverse slate of talks centring around the theme ‘Joy Sparks’ and exciting opportunities to network with other ANZ game developers.