Leading figures from the games industry have welcomed an innovative partnership between the Games Department at the National Film and Television School and the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London that launches today (December 6,2012).
The Games++ scheme will see postgraduate programming specialists from Goldsmiths’ MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment team up with creatives from the NFTS’ MA in games Development & Design with the aim of creating ground-breaking games.
Phil Harrison, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft and NFTS Governor, said:
"The Games industry is always looking for people with creativity and coding skills capable of bringing exciting new concepts, stories and worlds to life. I'm excited to see the results."
Students will partner on original games projects, share skills, attend masterclasses and workshops from industry professionals, attend industry events and visit studios. At the end of the scheme, they will reveal their projects to a panel of industry experts for feedback and it is hoped they will have boosted their chances of landing a game industry job.
Dr Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE, the UK’s interactive entertainment industry body, said: "Ukie is working to improve the flow of talent coming in to the UK's exciting games industry and this partnership between NFTS and Goldsmiths is exactly what we need more of. Games are all about where technology, maths, physics and code meet art and storytelling, and I expect to see Games++ produce great results."
Dr Maria Stukoff, Head of Academic Development at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said: "We are delighted to support the Games++ initiative, a perfect student development studio to create innovative and ground-breaking games projects. By bringing together top technical expertise from the Goldsmiths Department of Computing and creative game design excellence from the NFTS, I can see this acting as a fantastic incubator for future cross-disciplinary teams, which is precisely what the games industry needs at this stage."
The launch event was attended by independent games companies who are also fans of the new scheme.
Dr Andrew Oliver, Blitz Games Studios CTO and Co-Founder, said: "Not everyone calls themselves a 'Gamer' but everyone plays games whether this be on a console, computer or mobile phone. So the challenge, especially for the independent games industry, is how to make games that cater for this wider audience. For that you need brilliant programmers working with the most talented art directors and story-tellers. Historically, those people haven't wanted to work in Games. The Games++ scheme marks a turning point, a cultural shift, and it'll be exciting to see what they produce."
The scheme will begin in February 2013 with first delivery of titles in December the same year.
For more information about the MA in Games Design and Development at NFTS, visit www.nfts.co.uk/games.
For more information about the MSc Computer Games and Entertainment at Goldsmiths, visit www.gamesgoldsmiths.com
Additional endorsements:
Rob Letts from EA (Electronic Arts) Games UK said: "Bringing skilled software engineers from Goldsmiths into the NFTS Games Design and Development creative mix sounds like a great initiative. We look forward to seeing the results."
Nick Parker (Nick Parker Consulting) said: “Bringing students from different technical and creative disciplines together to work on original games projects at an advanced level has to be a great way to spawn innovation in an increasingly complex and diversified industry.”
Ben Templeton – Thought Den thoughtden.co.uk
"Looks like a great partnership to be striking up"
Dr Andrew Oliver, Blitz Games Studios CTO and Co-Founder, said: "Not everyone calls themselves a 'Gamer' but everyone plays games whether this be on a console, computer or mobile phone. So the challenge, especially for the independent games industry, is how to make games that cater for this wider audience. For that you need brilliant programmers working with the most talented art directors and story-tellers. Historically, those people haven't wanted to work in Games. The Games++ scheme marks a turning point, a cultural shift, and it'll be exciting to see what they produce."
Pictured above: Professor William Latham (Goldsmiths), Andy Thomason (Goldsmiths & Sony), Jon Weinbren (NFTS), Ted Chaplin (Imaginarium & NFTS visiting Tutor), Professor Frederic Fol Leymarie (Goldsmiths), Andy Payne (Havok)