Money and mana: Metia founder Maru Nihoniho on her plans to level up the gaming industry

Like many millennials, Metia Interactive founder Maru Nihoniho grew up playing video games. But unlike pakeha players, she didn’t often see herself reflected in them.  

“My friends and I would have these binge weekends where we would go and rent a Playstation or Sega or something and a couple of games and then spend the weekend thrashing,” she told Caffeine. 

“I remember playing Tomb Raider and talking about how cool it would be if Lara Croft was a Māori wahine character! We were like she would have a patu, and she would have a taiaha, and we were just chucking these thoughts around.” 

In 2003, the seed planted while playing Playstation with her mates sprouted into Nihoniho’s first company, Metia Interactive, on a mission to tell authentic Māori stories in the world’s most profitable entertainment industry. 

Gaming is worth more than the film and music industries combined, with 3 billion gamers globally and 70% of Kiwis playing games.

New Zealand’s own industry has seen double digit revenue growth almost every year since 2011 and is on track to be worth a billion dollars in exports from 2025. 

While the size of her potential market is obvious, the industry often struggles with diversity in both the stories told and the people making them.

Nihoniho reflected on travelling to her first conferences as an aspiring founder.

“I walked in, and I felt so out of place because I was one of very few female attendees. And, of course, an even smaller percentage of brown female attendees,” she said.  

“I remember it being a really lonely place because you’d see just groups of guys hanging out, laughing and chatting, and I was like, where are my girls?” she said.  

Nihoniho initially wanted to make a version of her dream game, the Māori-led Tomb Raider she didn’t get to play growing up. But pitching investors for the capital required to make a blockbuster title wasn’t easy without a proven portfolio. 

It didn’t help that without established funding, even having a quiet place to pitch prospective publishers is off the table. 

“Without a booth and a meeting area, you’re meeting in corridors and leaning against walls, sitting on floors. Oh my gosh, it’s kind of madness, but you have to do what you gotta do.” 

Nihoniho eventually decided her first game couldn’t be the one she imagined, so she pivoted. 

She was determined to prove to potential investors that she could make an attractive product which worked for a global market while costing less to produce. 

“I stopped pitching the big third-person action adventure and thought of a game that was the total opposite. No story, no characters, basic world, very basic in terms of its presentation,” she explained.

“Instead of pitching for millions, I was now pitching for much less, much, much less, and that was a bit more attractive to investors because the risk was lower.” 

Her approach paid off; she signed a development deal with Sony and created a stripped-back, cheaper, but still successful title for the Playstation Vita - Cube.  

She went on to develop SPARKX in partnership with Auckland University, which provided basic therapy through an interactive Te Reo Māori adventure. 

The cash flow, credibility, and connections provided by Cube and SPARX allowed Nihoniho to return to her original mission years later with fresh confidence. 

So, Metia’s current project, Guardian Maia, entered production. A full 3D adventure game harkening back to the iconic games she grew up playing. To both honour that past and look to the future, Nihoniho used her daughter as the design model for the game’s main character. 

“I think our young people today would love to see their culture reflected through gaming. I know that for a fact,” she said. 

Nihoniho is currently in Germany attending Gamescom, the largest industry event in the world. She’ll pitch her demo of Guardian Maia to investors to secure funding for a full global release. This time, with her own booth on the show floor.  

As for her advice to founders out there attempting to carve a new path as she did, Nihoniho says it all comes down to perseverance and practice.  

“Don’t give up just because somebody said no or many people said no. Eventually, you’re going to meet the right person at the right time who’s going to say yes. And that right time is usually when you’re better prepared.”

That advice paid off for Metia; it received the United Nations World Summit Award in 2009, the United Nations World Summit Award in 2011 and the UNESCO Netexplo award in 2013. 

But Nihoniho says it all came through putting one foot in front of the other. 

“Be strong, keep focused and take it a step at a time. See the light at the end of the tunnel, and even though you’re at the other end, with every step, you’re just moving closer and closer to that light.”