The first iteration of the Smart Program took place in November 2021 in a very different format from the program that runs today. The 2021 Smart Program was an “assisted residency program” that gave a small group of aspiring game developers equitable access to the professional game development community by providing them with a desk to work from that was located inside The Arcade, a South Melbourne based co-working space specialising in game development that was home to over 30 independent game development businesses and over 200 different residents.

After The Arcade shut its doors in 2022 and working from home was the standard for many game developers, The Smart Program was redesigned to ensure it would be able to meet the needs of the now digitally connected but physically distant local games community that was becoming increasingly isolated. The revamped 2023 Smart Program now included specialised mentor sessions and targeted career coaching that took place inside a shared office space on Little Bourke Street helmed by a number of prominent independent game development studios previously based out of The Arcade. 

In 2024, both the Smart Program and the game developers of the Little Bourke Street office relocated to the Collins Street Studios, a co-working space in the heart of the city. With access to greater resources, a larger space and a growing community of creatives, the 2024 Smart Program was able to facilitate engaging group-based learning activities, offer team prototyping challenges and implement custom-designed professional development workshops.

In 2025, the fourth iteration of the Smart Program is poised to deliver a brand-new high-quality program that has been vastly improved to ensure participants are able to confidently lead sustainable businesses that produce commercially competitive product that will attract the attention of an international audience of both consumers and investors.