Just a few years ago, external game development outsourcing would have been hired only if a company didn’t have enough professionals in-house for a certain task.
Things have changed, and today companies don’t treat outsourcing as another backup. Now, hiring external game development outsourcing partners is a necessity for most gaming projects. Moreover, games are commissioned not only by gaming companies; brands from various industries and niches, startups, and generally companies outside of the gaming sector.
There are many reasons for that, but one of the main lies in the very nature of the gaming industry. The games have developed so much, so creating them is now an extremely demanding task. Even if you have a small project, you’ll need to involve a lot of variables, including cross-platform builds, live updates, backend services, and many other smaller services. And all of that is usually better handled by an outsourced game development company.
However, once the project is done, you have to work even more. Post-launch requires a lot of work and dedication, and that always translates into more resources. Obviously, with that amount of work, you can’t deal with just your in-house team and have to bring in external development partners.
That’s why game development outsourcing has become a core production strategy. Studios outsource entire features or systems to external game development outsourcing companies.
Australia is kind of in a curious position here. First, the local game industry is relatively small compared to the US or Europe. But Australian studios are deeply connected to global markets, and the scope of work is huge, so many companies work with international publishers, handle worldwide releases, and operate on tight production schedules.
In these circumstances, as you see, outsourcing is unavoidable. But… outsourcing only works when the partner actually understands production.
In light of that, the demand for reliable game development outsourcing companies in Australia is now sharper than it has ever been. What changed, compared to previous years, is that studios are not looking for cheap labor. They’re looking for partners who can integrate into their pipeline and take responsibility for what they deliver, and actually provide a work of great value.
In this article, we focus on companies that are hired by studios and publishers to provide outsourced or co-development services. We’ve put together a detailed list of the Top 10 Game Development Outsourcing Companies in Australia in 2026 to help you make better decisions when it comes to choosing partners.
Key Takeaways
- Game development outsourcing has become a necessity for many companies due to the demanding nature of modern game development
- Co-development models are a big part and a preferable mode of operation in the Australian market
- Raising technical complexity is very hard to cover in-house, which is one of the main drivers for outsourcing demand.
- Clients are looking for a proven track of experience more than cheap prices
- Fgfactory Australia is one of the best game development outsourcing companies, thanks to the combination of specialties they have.
Game Development Market Overview
Before we move on to the studios themselves, let’s first take a broader look at the market situation.
The game industry in Australia is booming, and the number of studios and developers is eye-opening. According to industry data from the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, local studios generated around AUD 339 million (which is $212 million in revenue in 2024). So, in other words, they are maintaining growth after a strong 2023 performance of AUD 345.5 million.
Studios are also not stopping when it comes to hiring. With 61% planning to hire in 2025 and 81% expecting workforce stability or growth. Beyond development, the Australian gaming audience remains highly engaged: about 82% of Australians play video games, with an average player age of 35.
Mobile games still have the biggest numbers for two simple reasons: you can test them extremely quickly and launch without problems. However, most companies are focusing on way more different things than just mobile-oriented games.
Most projects want expansion; they want to move to PC or make a console release, and over time (or immediately) make it work on Steam Deck. Why so? Because the decision that you make early in development will impact years of post-launch work.
Did you know?
Almost 70% of game development studios report using outsourcing services for at least part of their production.
As you understand, the best solution here is outsourcing.
Specifically, the approach that many teams find beneficial is co-development. For internal teams, it is easy to keep creative control, and external partners can take care of defined systems, features, or entire production phases.
Top 10 Game Development Outsourcing Companies in 2026 in Australia
The main idea we followed when choosing the best companies was to evaluate how they actually operate. So it’s not about how they promote themselves or something like that.
We’ve included in the list Australian-based companies and those that work closely with Australian studios and publishers. You’ll see different strengths here in outsourced game development.
After extensive research, we are presenting to you the top 10 game development agencies in Australia. Keep reading.
1. Fgfactory Australia
Company Overview
Fgfactory Australia is a full-cycle game development outsourcing studio hired by studios and publishers as a long-term production partner. The team is easily embedded into client pipelines and handles complex gaming projects and custom software.
Fgfactory is often brought in to handle mobile, desktop, browser game development. Unity and Unreal are the main game engines. More importantly, they’ve handled projects that involve backend systems, multiplayer features, and ongoing LiveOps. And these are areas where outsourcing often breaks down.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2010; Australia (with distributed international teams)
Team Size
Approximately 50+ specialists globally
Key Expertise
Fgfactory focuses on technically demanding projects. This includes full-cycle development with multiplayer or real-time features, backend architecture, and scalable LiveOps setups. Strong experience with Unity and Unreal Engine across mobile, browser, and PC. Clients hire the company for entertainment, education, and product promotion.
Services Offered
- Cross-platform Game Development
- Artwork and Animation
- Gamification Integration
- Custom Software Development
Why They Stand Out
Fgfactory is at the top of this list for many reasons. The company has been on the market for almost two decades, which means the team saw how the market changed and adapted to these changes very successfully every single time. They also cover more than one direction, so they know how production actually works in different areas.
Founded in 2010, Fgfactory operates with large, structured teams and clear production roles. That means clients will not guess who’s responsible for what and won’t have to chase updates. That alone puts them ahead of many competitors.
Did you know?
In 2025, Fgfactory received awards across several core categories from TechBehemoth Awards: Mobile App Development, Custom Software Development, and UX/UI Design.
2. Chaos Theory Games
Company Overview
Chaos Theory Games is an Australian studio known for close creative collaboration. Usually, they work as co-developers. They are less likely to work as external executors because they want to contribute to design and implementation.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2012; Australia
Team Size
10-49 experts in development, art, production, QA, and marketing.
Key Expertise
Game design, gameplay programming, prototyping, and early-stage development. Strong involvement in shaping mechanics and player experience. They combine, as the company itself likes to put it, creativity and technology.
Services Offered
- Gamification Integration
- Game design and Art production
- Mobile Games Development
- Augmented and Virtual Reality projects
Why They Stand Out
Chaos Theory is valued by many partners because it works really well as a development partner. They are less likely to be a vendor. They’re often involved early, helping teams validate ideas before full production begins.
3. Blowfish Studios
Company Overview
Blowfish Studios is an established Australian developer and publisher that has solid outsourcing and co-development capabilities. They like to emphasize that they create and publish fantastic games. Blowfish literally covers every aspect of game creation, delivering quality. The company is a great choice for PC and console titles.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2008; Sydney, Australia
Team Size
Approximately 51–200 employees
Key Expertise
PC and console development, publishing support, porting, and certification processes. They like to emphasize that they create and publish fantastic games. Blowfish literally covers every aspect of game creation, delivering quality to each stage.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle game development
- Co-development
- Porting to consoles
- Concept art, cinematics, and audio
- Motion capture
- QA and compliance support
Why They Stand Out
Blowfish has shipped multiple commercial titles and understands the realities of console certification and publishing. This makes them a safe choice for teams preparing for release. They’re a practical choice for teams that already have something working and need it to ship properly.
4. XGameDev
Company Overview
XGameDev is an international game development outsourcing studio working with Australian and global clients. Their main focus is mid- to large-scale projects. Over 100 clients globally and 170 projects completed speak for themselves.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2010; International (strong Australia-facing operations)
Team Size
Approximately 100–150 specialists
Key Expertise
Unity and Unreal development, mobile and PC games, feature development at scale. They create games and apps for various purposes, including education. XGameDev also can deliver interactive training for clients from different niches.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle development
- Co-development
- Instructional design
- QA and testing
Why They Stand Out
XGameDev is structured for throughput. Most often, companies hire them when projects need additional development capacity. Especially so, if you don’t sacrifice delivery speed. They create games, apps, and eLearning content for clients across different industries.
5. Art of Play
Company Overview
Art of Play is an Australian studio with a focus (that might be hinted at by their name) on creative, interactive, and design-driven game projects. They have a lot of experience working on games with educational or experimental elements.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2011; Australia
Team Size
Approximately 20–30 employees
Key Expertise
The range of games this company creates is one of the widest on this list. There are console games, HTML5 games, Game design, interactive storytelling, visual development, e-learning, arcade machines. They can take your idea and start from game plan creation, and then move it to development.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle development
- Co-development
- Prototyping
- Game Art Production
Why They Stand Out
Art of Play works best when there’s a demand for creativity in a project, and when it matters more than scale. They quite often choose to work for projects that need a thoughtful, design-first approach. The team has received dozens of awards for their works.
6. Mode Games
Company Overview
Mode Games is an Australian indie-focused studio that works on original IP and co-development projects. Their main focus is PC and console. They make games for the purpose of education, branding, promotions and many others.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2015; Australia
Team Size
Approximately 15–25 developers
Key Expertise
They create app store games across the genres (Sandbox, shooter, role playing, racing, puzzle and party games, etc.), as well as can provide anything from script writing to post launch marketing and support.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle Game development
- Co-development
- Game Art creation
- Sound effects and music creation
- QA and production support
Why They Stand Out
Mode Games is well-regarded for hands-on development work. They are also known for close collaboration. It is a good fit for smaller teams that need experienced developers. However, if you are looking for large-scale outsourcing, that might not be your choice.
7. SDLC Corp
Company Overview
SDLC Corp is a large international technology company with a dedicated game development outsourcing division serving specifically Australian clients.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2015; Australia-focused operations with global teams
Team Size
250+ certified developers
Key Expertise
Mobile game development, backend systems, and large-team production workflows. The company designs enterprise solutions with the backup from AI and Blockchain. Most often their expertise is helpful for those looking for a software development engineering partner, which is the role SDLC Corp fits well.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle game development
- Mobile and online games
- Blockchain game development
- QA and testing
- Maintenance and LiveOps
Why They Stand Out
With over 200 successful projects and millions of downloads, it is hard not to think that this studio is standing out.
There are two main reasons why SDLC Corp works so well: they provide scale with structured delivery. They’re often chosen for projects that require cost control and team scalability. They can give you clear production processes. Globally, the company has over 600 clients with a high client retention rate.
8. StudioKrew
Company Overview
StudioKrew is a creative Australian outsourcing game developers providing visual and design support for game development and interactive projects.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2013; Australia
Team Size
Approximately 50 specialists
Key Expertise
Art direction, animation, UI/UX design, visual production. They build games, enterprise apps and Revit automation tools (for architects and MEP engineers). However, the range of products is exceeding games and gamified products. Studio Krew is creating ChatBot and provides AI integration services.
Services Offered
- Game development
- Mobile application and web app development
- Revit BIM Automation
- Metaverse and immersive solutions
- Blockchain development
Why They Stand Out
StudioKrew has one particularly good delivery across their portfolio: they strengthen the visual side of a project without expanding an internal art team. They also help with UI/UX, animation, and they work with Unity, Unreal Engine, MERN Stack, and Revit API with creative game design.
They worked with casino gaming platforms, multiplayer mobile titles, LMS training systems, and automation tools for different clients.
9. Noble Steed Games
Company Overview
Noble Steed Games is a niche Australian studio specializing in strategy and simulation-heavy game systems. They work with companies of different scales, delivering products from concepts to the final launch. The company’s CEO Reuben Moorhouse, has been named as one of MCV Pacific’s 30 Under 30 in Game Development.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2017; Australia
Team Size
Approximately 10–15 developers
Key Expertise
Strategy mechanics, AI behaviour, simulation systems, complex rule-based gameplay. Usually, the company works as an extension for the team hiring them. Importantly, they provide general programming support, which includes supporting technically an idea, implementing new features, and release support.
Services Offered
- Full-stack development
- Multiplayer Networking
- Prototyping and Porting
- QA and Support
Why They Stand Out
As we already mentioned, this studio is very niche. And that’s their advantage. Noble Steed provides technical design expertise to system-heavy games first off.
Since they specialize in strategy and simulation systems, you can expect AI behaviour, deep mechanics, and complex rule sets. They’re not generalists, but if your game lives or dies by its systems, this is a team that brings real value.
10. BR Softech
Company Overview
BR Softech is an international outsourcing company working with Australian studios on mobile, online, and multiplayer games. This award-winning company is known worldwide, not only in Australia.
Year Founded & Location
Founded in 2012; International, serving Australian clients
Team Size
250+ employees
Key Expertise
Web games and software development are two main directions. BR Softech is usually hired for mobile game development, multiplayer systems, backend infrastructure.
Services Offered
- Full-cycle game development
- Game Art Production
- QA and testing
- Maintenance and support
Why They Stand Out
BR Softech is no less than a giant among video game development studios. They have finished 2700+ projects and continue to deliver games to clients across the industries. They have a global presence, but one of the dedicated markets is Australia.
How We Chose the Best Game Outsourcing Companies
We wanted to be transparent when evaluating the companies that should or shouldn’t be on this list. So our criteria were tangible and pretty solid. We ranked studios the way an experienced producer or founder would evaluate them.
Here’s what mattered:
Australian Presence or Strong Australian Experience
We were looking for the companies that understand the realities of the Australian market and have already delivered significant work there in volume and quality.
Experience and Relevant Successful Cases
Nothing matters more than the examples of successfully finished projects. We were considering only the teams that could point to finished titles or long-term support projects. We also looked if the companies in our list have any repeating relationships with their customers.
Technical Stack and Supported Platforms
This is an important part, because it reflects how good the company is with various systems. Of course, it included Unity and Unreal, but we also assessed how companies deal with backend systems, performance optimization, ports, and LiveOps.
Management and Communication
Strong development means nothing if there is 0 structure. We looked at strong data and sought evidence of producers, clear reporting, and predictable workflows.
Pricing Transparency and Cost-Effectiveness
Another sign of a trustworthy studio is how they approach pricing. If there are clear estimates and defined scopes, of course, the video game outsourcing company would score higher. We carefully looked at each factor, and only after a proper assessment, decided to include a studio in the list.
How to Choose the Right Outsourcing Partner
Sometimes, even in the best outsourcing market, you can make a bad decision. The biggest outsourcing fails happen when you don’t know what to expect from an outsourcing game development company.
Clear NDA and IP Ownership Terms
As we said before, legal issues can kill the entire collaboration. A serious studio signs an NDA before starting to work with the new client, because a signed NDA is the very first sign of trust.
IP ownership should be in the contract, and it’s best if you don’t have to remind your potential video game outsourcing company about that.
Documented Production Pipeline
The way you receive the results always comes through structured phases: pre-production, milestones, sprints, QA, delivery etc. If a company you are considering to work with shows you the pipeline, that’s a good sign.
Proven Portfolio with Similar Projects
The best approach to choosing an outsourcing game development company is by looking at what similar projects to yours they have already delivered. You need a similar genre, comparable scope, a number of shipped titles. If they have case studies with outcomes, with a lot of details, that’s a good sign.
Dedicated Project Management
A professional partner assigns a producer or project manager who will explain to you timelines, provide communication, and deal with risk management.
Transparent Communication and Reporting
One of the main signs that the studio you chose is a good fit is transparent communication. That’s a general rule that’s applicable to any healthy collaboration in any business. If you hear only promises and don’t have proper updates, it is hard to expect that anything will work.
Pro Tip:
Always think in terms of systems when looking for outsourced game development. A partner responsible for a complete feature delivers more consistent results.
Red Flags that Should Stop the Conversation
No NDA or Vague IP Clauses
If there’s no NDA, how can you trust the studio that will be handling your project? If you outsource game development, but the company you’re negotiating with avoids NDAs, you should not start a collaboration with them.
No Playable Demos or Code Samples
This point is actually quite simple: it is all about proof of work that your potential partner has done before. It’s especially important for companies from outside the gaming industry: they are not familiar with it, so they need to see real examples of work.
Studios that have that real experience can show what they have worked on. It doesn’t mean you always have to look for something overly complex. That could be something as simple as a prototype.
Unclear Timelines and Responsibilities
Any experienced company understands how much time certain projects might take. Of course, they might offer you a range – for example, 6-8 weeks or 2,5-3 months. That’s normal. But if they don’t say any numbers, don’t assign responsibilities, you’d better look for other Australian outsourcing game developers. After all, there are the best on our list.
Overpromising on Cost or Deadlines
Cheap outsourcing is rarely cheap in the long run. If you are looking to outsource game development, you will get realistic estimates at the beginning from an experienced company. They’ve seen projects go wrong, so they would never promise you too much. Very low prices usually mean one bad thing for every client: corners will be cut later.
Pro Tip:
Keep in mind that you can find game development agencies in Australia for certain phases of your production. Not every studio is good for every stage. Some work well with prototyping, the others with scaling. So make sure to match the phases with the right studio.
What Should You Do Next to Choose the Development Partner?
Once you’ve shortlisted potential game development partners, now the best thing you can do is take a look at their processes.
First, prepare a project brief. This doesn’t have to be technically perfect, but it should cover all the main things about your project.
Next, choose three to five companies that you assume to be a good match. However, look carefully on their portfolio and experience in projects similar to yours. After that , reach out to each of them and share your brief.
Some studios, like Fgfactory, offer an initial discovery or brainstorming session that you don’t have to pay for. You can share your ideas here, understand how hard or easy it would be to embody them in terms of technology.
Then, speak to each team and try to see which approach and ideas you like the most. Your goal is to find a studio that would work on the same page with your vision.
But besides the strictly professional area, many clients prize Fgfactory’s approach to communication. This video game outsourcing company created a system of updating the clients, and, in exchange, receiving and acting upon honest feedback.
Finally, the company has a lot of experience as Australian outsourcing game developers in scaling projects of different scopes. Though the team is known for working mostly with big companies on big projects, they also helped small MVPs.
FAQs
What is game development outsourcing?
Game development outsourcing is the practice of hiring an external team (usually, video game development studios) to handle a specific part of game development, or, sometimes, to deliver a project fully.
What does outsourcing game development include?
It can cover almost anything: game design, programming, art and animation, UI/UX, multiplayer systems, QA, optimization, and post-launch support. If you outsource game development, you can look for any specific tasks that you need now.
How much does it cost to outsource a game in Australia?
There’s no one universal price. Different studios, depending on their experience and expertise, offer different prices. Besides, the price is always dependent on scope and complexity.
What is the difference between co-development and full-cycle outsourcing?
Co-development means your in-house team and the external studio work together. Full-cycle outsourcing means the external team handles the entire game from start to finish, all by themselves, only reporting to you and communicating some details.
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