Dean Hall says the successful zombie-survival game DayZ is coming to PlayStation 4 consoles.
He made his announcement at Sony's PlayStation conference at Gamescom 2014 in Cologne, last week.
This comes after sales of the PC version of the game - which sells for $US29.99 online - passed 2 million units in May, less than six months after its release last December.
Speaking from Germany, Mr Hall said making the announcement on the conference's main stage after being invited up by Sony was ''definitely a very memorable moment''.
''It really shows that Sony thought it was a big deal, which is kind of crazy,'' Mr Hall said.
A PlayStation release would mean DayZ reached a wider audience.
''Really, it sees it going from sort of a niche game to a very mainstream game. It could be in everyone's living room.''
There was ''no firm date'' on when it would be released on PlayStation 4, as there was a lot of work involved in transferring it to the console, but it would probably be some time next year.
DayZ puts players into the fictional post-Soviet world of Chernarus, where an unknown virus has turned most of the population into zombies.
Players are part of a vast online world, where they can join up or fight with other online players.
Now living in Prague, Mr Hall plans to return to New Zealand and set up a South Island games studio.
''I'm really looking forward to coming back to New Zealand, particularly setting up a studio.''
For now, he would continue working on DayZ.
''My involvement with DayZ will probably continue for quite a while, but my role is definitely changing.
''So, the idea is for me step down as the project lead [at the end of this year] and that means I am free to think about other stuff.''
The announcement this week sparked some negative reactions from owners of the PC game who were worried the console release would delay development of the PC version, which was not yet ''feature complete''.
Mr Hall said this was a ''natural reaction'' for fans, but reassured them the PC game would remain the priority.
''What it really does is that it means we have changed the whole scope of the game and that means that we can do more because we are spreading the risk of the project across ... many other potential unit sales.''
