RocketWerkz

RocketWerkz is an independent video game development studio based in New Zealand, focused on ambitious PC survival games, systemic simulation and emergent sandbox experiences. Established in December 2014 by game designer Dean Hall, the company began operating in Dunedin before expanding into Auckland. Its development work combines environmental art, software engineering, multiplayer infrastructure and complex gameplay systems.

The studio’s portfolio spans planetary survival, space-station engineering and room-scale virtual reality. Icarus, released in 2021, brings together cooperative PvE survival, resource harvesting and hazardous environmental storms. It supports both session-based and open-world play, with cooperative groups of up to eight players. Stationeers, first released in 2017, concentrates on space-station construction, atmospheric physics and resource management, reflecting the studio’s interest in interconnected systems and demanding simulation.

Earlier releases include Out of Ammo, a 2016 VR game combining first-person combat with real-time defensive strategy, and its standalone follow-up, Out of Ammo: Death Drive, released in 2017. The studio’s subsequent projects extend its simulation focus into spaceflight, railway logistics and submarine colony management through Kitten Space Agency, Art of the Rail and Torpedia. The latter two are identified as projects in development in the supplied research.

Development approach

RocketWerkz develops games across the production cycle, bringing together game design, 3D modelling, environmental concept art, technical animation, backend networking and dedicated-server engineering. Its specialties include procedural generation, high-fidelity environments and mechanics designed to produce complex interactions between players and simulated worlds. Community-driven Early Access development and continuing live-service updates form part of its approach to supporting games after their initial release.

The company operates across Auckland and Dunedin, with the Auckland team leading large-scale productions such as Icarus and Dunedin contributing to deep simulation projects such as Stationeers. Tencent’s minority investment in the holding company in 2016 supported the studio’s expansion while majority ownership and control remained local.