What Piki Studios does

Piki Studios (legal entity Piki Limited) is a private Māori-led game design studio headquartered in Hamilton, New Zealand, whose founders began their Minecraft-based learning work in 2010 and which is formally established in 2016. The company operates as an Official Minecraft Partner and Official Minecraft Mentor with Mojang Studios and develops educational Minecraft worlds and supplementary learning materials focused on Māori culture, Te Reo Māori language, and Pacific Island heritage. Core products include the awarded Ngā Motu world, Moananui, Taonga Tuku Iho, Tōku Pepeha, Pā Wars, add-on resources (Ngā Motu Learning Cards, Mahimaina guides, posters, card packs), the Minecraft Wero community program, and the in-development Lore — the first indigenous Official Featured Server being built with Mojang. The technology stack is built directly on Minecraft Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education Edition, with no proprietary engine, AI models, or disclosed APIs.

The company serves four primary customer segments: schools and educators (delivering culturally responsive learning through Minecraft Education Edition), Māori families and whānau (home learning), Iwi, Hapū and Māori communities (co-creation of cultural content), and government and tourism bodies (notably Tourism New Zealand, via the 2025 Māori Culture DLC campaign). Revenue is generated through four streams: Minecraft Marketplace content sales (one-time licenses), educational resources (physical and digital cards, guides, posters), events and training services (cultural competency and tech fluency for educators), and custom content development for tourism and government partners (project-based licensing). Distribution reaches schools and consumers globally through the Minecraft Marketplace and Minecraft Education Edition, with direct website sales for physical materials and field-based programs through the Minecraft Wero community initiative.

The studio operates with a core team of four (Whetu Paitai as Creative Director, Milosz Kulesza as Game Designer, Mohammad Junaid as General Manager, William Savage as Developer), is unfunded by disclosed institutional investors, and is founder-led. Recent strategic activity centers on the March 2025 Māori Culture DLC campaign with Tourism New Zealand, Warner Bros., and Mojang Studios, which targets Minecraft's 70 million global players and ties into the April 2025 A Minecraft Movie release. The company's positioning depends on the intersection of cultural authenticity (community-led co-creation with Iwi and Hapū) and platform leverage (Official Minecraft Partner status), validated by the 2019 Ngā Tohu Reo Māori Award for Open Education.

Name

Piki Studios

Legal name

Piki Limited

Website

https://pikistudios.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Piki Studios is a Māori-led game design studio and Official Minecraft Partner that develops educational Minecraft worlds and resources for schools, whānau, Iwi/Hapū communities in New Zealand, and tourism partners globally, focused on cultural authenticity and Te Reo Māori learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Gaming Content

NAICS

Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

Social/UGC & Sandbox Game Studios (Roblox-like) (MPAFAAAF)

Keywords

• Minecraft education worlds
• Indigenous cultural learning
• Minecraft Marketplace content
• Game-based learning resources
• Māori cultural education

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Minecraft Marketplace Sales: Piki Studios releases worlds in the Minecraft Marketplace as an Official Minecraft Partner, generating revenue through content sales to Minecraft's global player base.
2. Educational Resources and Tools: Sale of learning resources, classroom tools, and educational materials such as Ngā Motu Learning Cards, Mahimaina guides, card packs, and posters for use in homes, classrooms, and learning spaces.
3. Events and Training Services: Events and training services in cultural competency and tech fluency for educators and learners, delivered in partnership with communities and institutions.
4. Community and Tourism Content Development: Custom content development with government and tourism partners, such as the Tourism New Zealand Minecraft DLC campaign, co-developed with Māori communities.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Piki Studios designs, develops, and publishes educational Minecraft worlds and learning resources focused on Māori culture, Te Reo Māori language, and Pacific Islander heritage. Its core offerings are distributed through the Minecraft Marketplace, Minecraft Education Edition, and its own website, and it produces physical and digital classroom tools (learning cards, guides, posters, card packs) as well as community engagement programs.

Product overview

Piki Studios is a Māori game design studio that develops educational Minecraft worlds and learning resources. The portfolio consists of Minecraft worlds as the core products (Ngā Motu, Tōku Pepeha, Taonga Tuku Iho, Moananui, Pā Wars) available through Minecraft Marketplace and Minecraft Education Edition, supplemented by add-on learning materials including Mahimaina guides, posters, card packs, and Ngā Motu learning cards. The company also runs Minecraft Wero, a community engagement challenge program for schools, families, and communities. All products focus on teaching Māori culture, Te Reo Māori language, and Pacific Islander heritage through game-based learning experiences.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lore: An Official Featured Server being developed with Mojang Studios, representing the first indigenous Official Featured Server
• Ngā Motu
• Mahimaina

Products and services

• Ngā Motu An immersive Minecraft world for exploring the indigenous Māori culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, developed for schools, families, and learners; won the 2019 Ngā Tohu Reo Māori award for Open Education.
• Tōku Pepeha A Minecraft world where users visit the inhabitants of an island and create their own pepeha (a tribal saying that identifies one's tribal lineage).
• Taonga Tuku Iho A Minecraft world focused on learning about modern archaeology in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Moananui A Minecraft world where users meet the ānau (families) from different Pacific Islands as they share their cultures.
• Pā Wars A resource-based minigame based on Pā (fortified village) building in Māori culture.
• Mahimaina Guide A Minecraft guide for learning Te Reo Māori (Māori language).
• Mahimaina Posters High-quality educational posters for home or school use, supporting Te Reo Māori learning.
• Mahimaina Card Pack An official Mahimaina card pack featuring kupu (Māori words) to learn on each card.
• Ngā Motu Learning Cards NZ Curriculum and Mātauranga aligned learning cards for Ngā Motu, supporting educational use in schools.
• Minecraft Wero A community challenge inviting participants to learn and share local stories and histories by connecting with Iwi, Hapū and communities while creating resources using Minecraft, available in three categories: Whānau (Family), Hāpori (Community), and Kura (School).
• Māori Culture Minecraft DLC Campaign A Māori culture and tourism DLC for Minecraft developed with Tourism New Zealand, Warner Bros., and Mojang Studios, featuring six iconic New Zealand locations and aiming to potentially boost visitor spending by $50 million.

Quantifiable outcome

• Targeting Minecraft's 70 million players in key tourism markets with Māori culture DLC
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Tourism New ZealandflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2025Tourism New Zealand partnered with Piki Studios, Warner Bros., and Mojang Studios to launch a Minecraft downloadable content campaign promoting Māori culture and tourism, featuring six iconic New Zealand locations. The campaign targets Minecraft's 70 million players and aims to potentially boost visitor spending by $50 million.
• Warner Bros.flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 March 2025Warner Bros. partnered with Tourism New Zealand and Piki Studios for the Minecraft DLC campaign promoting Māori culture, coinciding with the April 2025 release of 'A Minecraft Movie'. Warner Bros. provides marketing reach and distribution through its entertainment ecosystem.
• Mojang StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Piki Studios is an Official Minecraft Partner with Mojang Studios, releasing worlds in the Minecraft Marketplace. The partnership includes joint development of protections for indigenous intellectual property within Minecraft and the creation of the first indigenous Official Featured Server called Lore.
• Microsoft (Minecraft Education Edition)coreTechnology or IntegrationPiki Studios creates content for Minecraft Education Edition as a Minecraft Mentor, with Whetu Paitai serving as an Official Minecraft Mentor. Anne Taylor from Microsoft was instrumental in the development of Ngā Motu. The company is integrated into the Microsoft Minecraft Education ecosystem.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Noxcrew: Official Minecraft Partner known for high-quality Minecraft Marketplace adventure maps and events. Directly comparable as a peer studio releasing content through the same Minecraft Marketplace channel with similar creator dynamics.
• Blockworks: Official Minecraft Partner and content studio creating worlds and adventure maps for the Minecraft Marketplace. Directly comparable as another Minecraft Marketplace creator building immersive player experiences on the same platform.
• Workbench: Official Minecraft Partner developing games, worlds, and experiences for the Minecraft Marketplace. Comparable as a peer content studio operating in the same Official Partner ecosystem with similar distribution and creator economics.

Broad incumbents

• Mojang Studios: Developer and owner of Minecraft, Piki Studios' core platform and primary partner. Comparable as the platform owner and broader incumbent whose Marketplace and Education Edition channels Piki Studios distributes through.

Emerging players

• Schell Games: Independent game studio with deep expertise in educational, learning, and transformative games. Comparable as a studio creating immersive game-based learning experiences, sharing similar craft and educational use-case focus.
• Filament Games: Educational game studio creating game-based learning experiences for K-12 classrooms. Comparable as an educational game developer using immersive digital experiences for curriculum-aligned learning, similar to Piki Studios' Education Edition focus.

Regional players

• PikPok: New Zealand-based game developer creating mobile and cross-platform games. Comparable as a fellow NZ-based indie game studio operating in the broader New Zealand game development ecosystem.
• Grinding Gear Games: New Zealand-based game studio and developer of Path of Exile. Comparable as a prominent NZ-based game studio operating in the same regional ecosystem, providing a local industry benchmark for talent and scale.
• Ninja Kiwi: New Zealand-based game studio behind the Bloons franchise. Comparable as another NZ-based game studio with similar indie-to-mid-size scale and a long history of building consumer-friendly game content.
• Ludo Studios: New Zealand-based game studio developing titles including educational and family-friendly games. Comparable as a fellow NZ-based indie game studio operating in the same regional ecosystem with similar indie scale dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pikistudios
• Facebookfacebook.com/pikistudios
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/piki-studios

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Piki Studios