NOVA MACCOURT CONTRACT RATES · GAMES & OTHER

Contract Rates Consulting · Programming · Technical Leadership · Production

These are my standard hourly rates for game-focused work (Unity/Unreal, C#/C++), technical design, and calm, execution-driven production.

If you’re exploring an engagement, the fastest path is a short scoping call — I’ll help you define the smallest shippable plan, and then we can decide whether it’s best handled hourly or as a fixed milestone quote.

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Based in Auckland (NZT) Remote-friendly Unity · Unreal · C# · C++ Systems · Gameplay · Production

“Big ideas, small shippable steps. I aim for responsive feel, stable builds, and leaving teams and codebases in better shape.”


Standard rates by engagement type

Advisory & Strategy

Consulting

US$200 / hr NZ$330 / hr
  • Technical direction, architecture reviews, and practical next steps
  • Production planning: milestones, scope control, and risk reduction
  • Codebase audits, performance profiling, and pipeline improvements
  • Publisher / investor technical diligence support (as needed)

Hands-on Delivery

Development Work

US$150 / hr NZ$250 / hr
  • Feature implementation, debugging, and integration
  • Tools + pipeline support (build health, CI, deployment workflows)
  • Prototyping to validate mechanics quickly and safely
  • Maintenance work on existing projects and legacy systems

Leadership

Technical Team Leadership

US$190 / hr NZ$315 / hr
  • Tech lead support: architecture decisions, code review standards
  • Mentoring, onboarding, and lightweight engineering processes
  • Hiring/interview support and technical assessments
  • Performance budgets, build stability, and release readiness

Production

Project Management

US$160 / hr NZ$265 / hr
  • Sprint planning, backlog shaping, and milestone tracking
  • Cross-discipline coordination (art/design/engineering)
  • Risk management, scope control, and stakeholder reporting
  • Practical documentation (roadmaps, specs, meeting notes)

Engineering

Game Programming

US$170 / hr NZ$280 / hr
  • Gameplay systems, mechanics, AI, simulation, and economy design/implementation
  • Unity/Unreal gameplay engineering (C#/C++)
  • Designer-friendly tools (debug UIs, editor tooling, telemetry hooks)
  • Profiling + optimisation for stable builds and responsive feel

Design

Game Design

US$140 / hr NZ$230 / hr
  • Systems design: progression, economies, balance, and tuning loops
  • UX and onboarding for complex games (clarity without dumbing down)
  • Design docs: one-pagers, specs, and iteration plans
  • Playtest planning and rapid, evidence-driven iteration

NZD amounts are rounded estimates for convenience. If invoiced in NZD, I’ll confirm the rate in writing before work begins.

Engagement Terms

How I work

  • Minimum billing: 2 hours per engagement block (unless we agree otherwise for a one-off intro call).
  • Scheduling: Booked in advance; urgent work depends on availability.
  • Invoicing: Weekly or biweekly for ongoing work (or per milestone for fixed-scope work).
  • Payment: Typically Net 7 (first-time clients may be asked for a small upfront retainer).
  • Confidentiality: Happy to sign an NDA.
  • IP & deliverables: For paid work, deliverables are yours upon payment (unless otherwise agreed in writing).
  • Tools: Unity/Unreal, Git, Perforce, Jira/Notion/Trello, Discord/Slack, and practical documentation.

If you already have a budget and timeline, I can also quote fixed-price milestones (with clear acceptance criteria) instead of pure hourly.

Employment Option

If you’d rather hire me full-time

Sometimes the right answer is a permanent role instead of contracting. The ranges below are a rough “base salary” guide for the same responsibilities, depending on location, seniority, and total compensation (bonus/equity/benefits).

Show salary bands
Role / Focus Base salary (USD) Approx. (NZD)
Consulting / Principal (in-house) US$150,000 – US$210,000 NZ$249,000 – NZ$349,000
Development (Senior Engineer) US$130,000 – US$185,000 NZ$216,000 – NZ$307,000
Technical Team Leadership (Tech Lead) US$160,000 – US$230,000 NZ$266,000 – NZ$382,000
Project Management (Senior Producer / PM) US$125,000 – US$175,000 NZ$208,000 – NZ$291,000
Game Programming (Senior Gameplay) US$140,000 – US$200,000 NZ$232,000 – NZ$332,000
Game Design (Systems / Technical Design) US$115,000 – US$170,000 NZ$191,000 – NZ$282,000

Conversions above use the same exchange estimate as the hourly section (Feb 4, 2026).

Contact

Let’s talk scope

If you send a short overview (your goal, platform, timeline, and what’s currently blocking you), I can usually propose a clear next step within one email thread.

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What helps most

Share: (1) what you’re building, (2) what’s not working, (3) target platform, (4) timeline, and (5) current team size.

Start via email

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