Entries for the New Zealand Game Developer Association's KiwiGameStarter programme are now open.

KiwiGameStarter is the association's start-up programme for interactive games businesses.

The competition helps early-stage games businesses develop prototypes ready for investment or crowdfunding.

The winning team receives:

◆ NZ$5000
◆ Another NZ$5000 when it hits its next development milestone
◆ Marketing advice from IndieDevKit (worth NZ$2000)
◆ A license agreement and legal advice from Hudson Gavin Martin lawyers (worth NZ$4000)
◆ Music tracks from The Sound Room
◆ Three months' free rent for up to three people in The Arcade Auckland
◆ Mentoring from some of New Zealand's most successful game developers

This year's runner up will receive NZ$5000, and mentoring.

Teams must submit a playable demo or prototype and a five page pitch proposal by 5pm on August 15.

Four finalists will then be chosen to present to a judging panel before the NZ Game Developers Conference, which will take place at AUT University on September 7.

"Before winning KiwiGameStarter, my game Dynacorp was a hobby project," said 2015 KiwiGameStarter winner Rox Flame. "Winning the award gave me the capacity to prioritise game development as a career, and get the project Kickstarter ready."

Video games have become New Zealand's fastest growing ICT export sector, earning more than NZ$80 million last year.