Maybe the iron ore is in the form of the next smash hit game
In a global industry worth $250 billion annually, Australia has long been an observer rather than a participant — but a Canberra studio's debut on one of gaming's largest stages suggests that may be changing. Uppercut Games unveiled Magicians: The Devil's Deal at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, a narrative first-person shooter set in a hellish world of illusion, backed by Screen Canberra's newly formalized support for game development. The moment is small in scale but significant in implication: a regional city, historically known for politics rather than pixels, is beginning to ask whether creative talent might be its most valuable natural resource.
- A $250 billion global industry has largely bypassed Australia, but a single Canberra studio's appearance at Xbox Games Showcase 2026 signals a crack in that long exclusion.
- Uppercut Games spent years developing Magicians: The Devil's Deal in secrecy, and its public reveal carries the weight of a team proving that world-class work can be built far from traditional gaming hubs.
- Screen Canberra only recently created a formal mechanism to fund games, having previously limited its support to TV and film — the discovery of untapped local talent accelerated that shift.
- Australian indie gaming already has international proof points — Hollow Knight: Silksong and Untitled Goose Game — but the infrastructure to scale that success remains the critical missing piece.
- Canberra's ambition is explicit: become Australia's gaming capital, with Screen Canberra planning intensified developer support over the next six months to turn a breakthrough moment into a lasting ecosystem.
The global video game industry generates $250 billion a year — twice Hollywood's output — yet Australia has largely watched from the margins. That absence may finally be ending.
Uppercut Games, a Canberra-based studio, unveiled its debut title Magicians: The Devil's Deal at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026. The game is a narrative-driven first-person shooter set in Theatreland, a warped realm of illusion and domination, where players guide stage magician Jacob Menteuro through Hell, stealing magical abilities from other conjurers to survive. It arrives in 2027 on Xbox, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Co-founder Ed Orman described the relief of finally revealing a project kept secret for years. The studio's journey to that stage was supported by Screen Canberra, the regional funding body that has historically backed television and film. Its director, Holly Trueman, acknowledged that games represent genuinely new territory. "We have only just started funding games," she said, noting that no formal mechanism had previously existed — until her team encountered Uppercut Games and found a reservoir of creative talent that simply lacked a platform.
Australia has already produced internationally celebrated indie titles: Hollow Knight: Silksong won Best Action/Adventure Game at the 2025 Gaming Awards, and Untitled Goose Game has sold over three million copies. The skill exists. What has been missing is infrastructure.
Trueman's vision is direct: make Canberra Australia's gaming capital. "Maybe the iron ore is in the form of the next smash hit game," she said. Screen Canberra plans to deepen its work over the coming months, building business capacity and opening pathways for younger developers. Whether this single breakthrough becomes the seed of something larger remains, for now, an open question.
The global video game industry pulls in $250 billion annually—twice what Hollywood makes in a year. Yet Australia has largely sat on the sidelines, watching the money flow elsewhere, content to let other countries build the studios and capture the talent. That absence may finally be ending.
Uppercut Games, a studio based in Canberra, just unveiled its debut title, Magicians: The Devil's Deal, at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, one of the world's most visible gaming conferences. The game is a narrative-driven first-person shooter set in Theatreland, a warped realm constructed from illusion and domination. Players inhabit Jacob Menteuro, a stage magician who finds himself cast into Hell and must commandeer the magical abilities of other conjurers to escape. It arrives in 2027 across Xbox, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Ed Orman, who co-founded and directs Uppercut Games, described the weight of keeping the project under wraps for years, then the relief of finally showing it to the world. "We've been building an amazing team at Uppercut Games here in Canberra and across Australia to make this game," he said. "To have it revealed as part of the Xbox Games Showcase is something we're immensely proud of."
The studio's path to this moment involved backing from Screen Canberra, the regional funding body that has historically supported television and film. Holly Trueman, who leads Screen Canberra, acknowledged that gaming represents new territory for the organization. "We have only just started funding games," she explained. "Screen Canberra has been supporting TV and film projects for a long time, but we haven't really had a formal mechanism to support games until recently." The discovery, she said, was that Canberra harbored a reservoir of creative talent that had never been given a platform. When Trueman and her team encountered Uppercut Games and saw what they were building, the decision to invest felt obvious.
Australia's gaming sector has already produced international successes. Hollow Knight: Silksong, developed in Adelaide, took home Best Action/Adventure Game at the 2025 Gaming Awards. Untitled Goose Game, built in Melbourne, has sold over three million copies since its 2019 launch. These wins suggest the country has the skill and imagination to compete at the highest level—it simply needs the infrastructure and funding to nurture more studios.
Trueman harbors an ambitious vision: Canberra as Australia's gaming capital. "In Canberra, we can't dig up iron ore, but maybe the iron ore is in the form of the next smash hit game," she said. Over the next six months, Screen Canberra plans to intensify its work building business capacity and creating pathways for younger developers. The organization recognizes that the talent exists; the task now is to give it room to flourish and the resources to scale.
Magicians: The Devil's Deal is available to wishlist on Xbox. What happens next—whether this single breakthrough becomes the seed of a sustained gaming ecosystem in Canberra—remains to be written.
Citas Notables
We've been building an amazing team at Uppercut Games here in Canberra and across Australia to make this game. To have it revealed as part of the Xbox Games Showcase is something we're immensely proud of.— Ed Orman, co-founder and director, Uppercut Games
We learnt that Canberra has this underbelly of these amazing creatives that have never really had the chance to show off their talents.— Holly Trueman, CEO, Screen Canberra
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Why does it matter that a game gets revealed at Xbox Games Showcase specifically? Couldn't Uppercut have just released it quietly?
The Showcase is where the industry watches. It's where publishers, investors, and millions of players pay attention at once. Getting that stage signals legitimacy and creates momentum. For a studio in Canberra trying to prove Australian game development is worth backing, that visibility is everything.
Screen Canberra only recently started funding games. What changed their mind?
They realized the talent was already there—they just weren't looking for it. For years they funded film and TV because that's what they knew. When they actually met with Uppercut and saw the work, they understood they'd been missing an entire creative class in their own city.
Is one game enough to make Canberra a gaming hub?
No. But it's proof of concept. Trueman is explicit about this—they're using the next six months to build infrastructure, fund more projects, create pathways for developers. One success attracts talent, attracts more funding, attracts studios. It's how ecosystems form.
Australia already has successful games from Adelaide and Melbourne. Why does Canberra need its own identity?
Because regional creative industries compound. Once you have one studio, you attract developers, you build local expertise, you create a culture. Melbourne didn't become a game development center by accident—it became one because the first successes drew more talent and investment. Canberra is trying to replicate that.
What's the actual risk here if this doesn't work?
Screen Canberra looks foolish for betting on an unproven sector. But the real risk is that the talent leaves. If Canberra doesn't build the ecosystem, developers will move to Melbourne or Sydney or overseas where the infrastructure already exists. You can't build a creative industry if your creatives have to leave to work.