Registrations for the 2025 round of the Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR) open today, Monday 3 February.
GDSR Registration is the first step in applying for the rebate. Once you have completed the registration process, you will then receive a Letter of Acknowledgement or Decline from us. That will let you know whether you are eligible to go ahead and apply for the rebate when applications open in April.
Please note, GDSR Registration will be open for one month and closes on Friday 28 February.
Getting started
Kicking off your GDSR Registration is easy:
- To begin, just go to our new NZ On Air Portal.
- Once at the portal homepage, you’ll start by creating an account with NZ On Air. You’ll need to do this even if you have applied for funding before. Just click the ‘Create Account’ button and go through the easy steps.
- Once you have successfully created an account, you’ll receive an email to verify your address. Click on your email to activate your account. (Remember to check your spam or junk folder if you can’t see it in your inbox).
- You will then be redirected to the NZ On Air Portal where you can now login to your account.
- To begin your GDSR Registration, just click on the New Application tab and select ‘2025 GDSR Registration’.
- Follow the steps and click ‘Submit’ when you’re done.
The whole thing should take around 20-25 minutes – but you can ‘Save as Draft’ at any time and come back to it.
GDSR process
Once you have completed your GDSR Registration, we will be in touch with your Letter of Acknowledgement or Decline by the end of March. Once again, this will let you know if you are eligible to apply when applications open for the GDSR 2025 in April. This letter can also serve as a legal notice for investors or your bank to show that you will potentially receive the rebate – noting this is not guaranteed.
Updated website
All the information about the GDSR, including a handy flowchart and detailed timeline, is housed on the GDSR pages of our newly updated website. For those of you who applied for GDSR last year, you will see that all the GDSR information is now much easier to find and laid out in a more intuitive style.
You can also find links to our previous webinars run in collaboration with the NZGDA, such as one held at the end of last year which covered everything you need to know about the GDSR 2025 round. If you missed that webinar, you can check it out here.
New Communications Centre
Have you provided your communications preferences in our new Communications Centre? Very soon we will stop using the database and mail service you are currently receiving emails from. So, to make sure you continue to receive GDSR Update communications or to sign up, you just need to let us know your communications preferences. It’s all super simple.
What you need to do:
- Click this link
- Enter your details
- Tick which communications you’d like to receive
- Press ‘Submit’
It’s that easy.
If you have already updated your communications preferences, thank you. We look forward to keeping you up to date with all the GDSR Update communications.
If you have any questions about the Communications Centre, email us at communications@nzonair.govt.nz.