Grinding Gear Games

Type| Subsidiary
Industry| Video games
Founded| 2006
Founders|

* Chris Wilson
* Jonathan Rogers
* Erik Olofsson

Headquarters| Auckland, New Zealand

Key people

| Chris Wilson (Managing Director)
Jonathan Rogers (Technical Director)
Erik Olofsson (Art Director)
Brian Weissman (Executive Producer)
Products|

* Path of Exile
* Path of Exile 2

Parent| Tencent[1]
Website| www.grindinggear.com

Grinding Gear Games is a video game developer and the largest video game company in New Zealand.[2][3][4] Founded in 2006, the Auckland company has produced one game, Path of Exile, which was released in 2013. Founded as an independent developer, the company was majority acquired by Chinese technology company Tencent in 2018, after Tencent had published Path of Exile in China in 2017. In 2025 Grinding Gear Games had 240 staff in New Zealand and paid almost NZ$100 million in dividends to Tencent that year.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Games developed
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## History

Grinding Gear Games was founded in 2006 in Auckland, New Zealand, by friends Chris Wilson and Jonathan Rogers, who met while studying computer science at the University of Auckland.[5] They started the business in Wilson's garage in New Lynn.[6] They were joined by designer Erik Olofsson, a Swedish gamer that Wilson had met online;[7] Olofsson flew to New Zealand to join Wilson and Rogers a few months later.[8] They moved to office premises in Titirangi in 2008.[6] By 2012, the studio had grown to 18 staff.[9]

Grinding Gear Games developed the game Path of Exile. The open-beta build was released worldwide in January 2013[10] and the 1.0 version of the game was released on 23 October 2013.[11] During the open beta, from 23 January 2013 to release, more than 46,000 people participated.[12] The company crowd-funded Path of Exile through allowing users to pre-purchase in-game microtransactions ahead of the game's launch date. It raised over $245,000 in the first six days.[13] The company then began focusing on releasing for more platforms, more regions, and on creating cosmetic items available for purchase through microtransactions. By 2017 it had moved premises to Henderson and had a staff of more than one hundred.[14]

In 2013, co-founder Chris Wilson was a finalist for The New Zealand Herald's Business Leader of the Year.[15]

The company spent two years developing a Chinese version of Path of Exile, modifying the game to avoid censorship problems.[16] It was published in China by Chinese technology company Tencent in 2017.[6][16] In May 2018, Tencent became a majority holder in Grinding Gear Games,[6] acquiring 86.67% of the company's shares, with three of the co-founders holding the remaining 13.3%. Two of the co-founders sit on the board of directors, alongside three directors appointed by Tencent in April 2018.[17] By December 2023, Tencent owned 93%.[18] In March 2024, the three co-founders sold their remaining shares to Tencent, which made the company the sole owner.[19] Grinding Gear Games paid almost NZ$100 million in dividends to Tencent in 2025.[20] It had 180 staff in New Zealand in April 2024, and 240 staff by July 2025.[7] In 2025, Rogers funded a STEM-focused private school in collaboration with academic Tristan O'Hanlon, which has been given resource consent.[21][22]

## Games developed

Year  | Title  | Platform(s)

|
|

2013  | Path of Exile | Windows, PS4, Xbox One, Mac
2024  | Path of Exile 2[23] | Windows, PS5, Xbox Series X/S

## References

1. ↑ "Shareholdings, [as of 27 March 2023"]. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1887410/shareholdings.
2. ↑ Keall, Chris (7 March 2024). "Profit nearly halves at NZ's largest video game firm". https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/profit-nearly-halves-at-nzs-largest-video-game-firm-grinding-gear-games/KNAMW6SP7BD7FEKGWDSBIYCG7A/.
3. ↑ "Take a tour of New Zealand's largest video game studio". 2017-04-27. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201841762/take-a-tour-of-new-zealand's-largest-video-game-studio.
4. ↑ "'Nailed the formula': What's behind the success of NZ's video game sector's biggest player?". 2025-08-03. https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/jonathan-rogers-grinding-gear-games-managing-director-on-the-companys-success/.
5. ↑ Campbell, Gerard (4 May 2017). "Grinding Gear: Kiwi studio goes from garage to global gaming powerhouse". https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/games/92213759/grinding-gear-kiwi-studio-goes-from-garage-to-global-gaming-powerhouse.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Shaw, Aimee (21 May 2018). "Internet giant Tencent Holdings acquires majority in Kiwi gaming firm Grinding Gear Games". The New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/internet-giant-tencent-holdings-acquires-majority-stake-in-kiwi-gaming-firm-grinding-gear-games/U75QII62XWTOR4EOBNIWBQVZJM/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Keall, Chris (29 July 2025). "West Auckland's Grinding Gear Games, maker of Path of Exile, reports $105m revenue, CEO leaves for new venture". The New Zealand Herald. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/path-of-exile-maker-grinding-gear-games-reports-105m-revenue-new-ceo/G727RHQB2JCP7CDWSY5KRZZMCU/.
8. ↑ "OIO reveals Auckland's Grinding Gear Games sold for more than $100m". 2018-05-31. https://www.nbr.co.nz/oio-reveals-aucklands-grinding-gear-games-sold-for-more-than-100m/.
9. ↑ "Auckland firm to launch its first online game". 2012-06-19. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/108610/auckland-firm-to-launch-its-first-online-game.
10. ↑ "Path of Exile Enters Open Beta". IGN.com. 24 January 2013. http://au.ign.com/articles/2013/01/24/path-of-exile-enters-open-beta.
11. ↑ "Path of Exile 1.0, Steam, and sweet, sweet revenge". 4 October 2013. https://www.engadget.com/2013/10/04/path-of-exile-1-0-steam-and-sweet-sweet-revenge/.
12. ↑ "Kiwi RPG Path of Exile secures US$200,000 in crowdfunding". Gameplanet. 2012-04-11. http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/pc/games/165482.Path-of-Exile/news/138830.20120411.Kiwi-RPG-Path-of-Exile-secures-US-200-000-in-crowdfunding.
13. ↑ "NZ game Path of Exile crowd-funds $245,000 in six days". PCWorld. 2012-04-11. http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/news/nz-game-path-of-exile-crowd-funds-245000-in-six-days.
14. ↑ Rawhiti-Forbes, Troy (30 April 2017). "NZ game studio thinking inside the box". Newsroom. https://newsroom.co.nz/2017/04/30/path-of-exile/.
15. ↑ "Business leader of the year finalist 2013: Chris Wilson". 2013-12-09. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/business-leader-of-the-year-finalist-2013-chris-wilson/2YQKK63UXFF2GWOBYYQJCAUCI4/.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 MacManus, Richard (18 June 2018). "Kiwi tech's big China hope". Newsroom. https://newsroom.co.nz/2018/06/18/china-is-the-new-promised-land-for-startups/.
17. ↑ "Grinding Gear Games Limited: Directors". New Zealand Companies Office. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1887410/directors.
18. ↑ Keall, Chris (20 December 2023). "Stalled: NZ video gaming's horror year – and its hopes for 2024". https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/stalled-growth-nz-video-gamings-horror-year-and-its-hopes-for-2024/2DMMBRXUSBA57BKDPGDLAAS46M/.
19. ↑ "1887410 Grinding Gear Games Limited: Shareholders". New Zealand Companies Office. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1887410/36271747/entityFilingRequirement?backurl=/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/1887410/documents.
20. ↑ Mace, Will (24 July 2025). "Grinding Gear Games pays nearly $100m to Chinese owner". National Business Review. https://www.nbr.co.nz/tech/grinding-gear-games-pays-nearly-100m-to-100-chinese-owner/.
21. ↑ Killick, Jonathan (May 24, 2025). "Westie multimillionaire game developer throws fortune behind new school". https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360697280/westie-multimillionaire-game-developer-throws-fortune-behind-new-school.
22. ↑ Ryan, Kathryn (2025-08-01). "Game developer and physics teacher to make STEM school" (in en-nz). https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018998125/game-developer-and-physics-teacher-to-make-stem-school.
23. ↑ "Path of Exile 2 developed". https://skycoach.gg/blog/path-of-exile-2/articles/unique-items. Retrieved 2020-03-08.

## External links

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Tencent

Services|

* Foxmail
* JOOX
* QQ
* QQLive
* Qzone
* Soso
* Tencent Maps
* Tencent Video
* Tencent Weibo
* WeBank
* WeChat (Red envelope)

Video gaming|

* Tencent Games
* Epic Games (40%)
* Grinding Gear Games (80%)
* TiMi Studios
* QQ Games
* Riot Games
* Radiant Entertainment
* Supercell (84%)
* Miniclip

Music|

* Tencent Music
* Universal Music Group (10%; major stakes owned by Vivendi)
* KuGou
* Ku Music Asian Music Awards
* QQ Music
* QQ Music Awards

Related|

* 360 v. Tencent
* Tencent Pictures
* New Classics Media

People|

* Ma Huateng
* Allen Zhang
* Tony Zhang
* Chen Yidan
* Chen Xiaonan

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