CAMBRIDGE CATALYST Issue 06 Web

EDUCATION

ewind 30 years or so and the idea of studying games development seemed like

home to world-renowned studios such as Ninja Theory, Frontier and Jagex. Students on the course are introduced to, and given the opportunity to develop, a wide range of skills for them to understand and appreciate the multi-faceted industry that is games development. Rizing Games then enables students to showcase their efforts publicly on our own website (rizinggames.co.uk), social channels (@RizingGamesUK), at our locally hosted expo towards the end of the year and at industry events such as EGX Rezzed. We aim to teach more than introductory practical skills within the course, beginning with basics and simplifying the process in an ever- evolving digital world with paper- based challenges to introduce design tools, processes and the concept of iteration. We encourage students to be independent in their education and seek their own passion and drive within the wide context of games development, experimenting and learning from their own mistakes. Students can choose their specialism early on and develop either an artistic or technical approach to

ABOVE Students at CRC learn a range of disciplines on the course to get a full insight into all aspects of game development as a career

Chris Baker, course leader in Games

a distant fantasy. Games were entertaining millions around the world, but the majority of skills came from the neighbouring industries of film, animation, computing and design. Today however, there are more than 200 games-specific courses delivered by universities and further education colleges across the UK, covering a wide variety of skills such as art, animation, design, technology, programming, audio and storytelling. It’s one of the many reasons that the gaming industry is one of the fastest growing in the United Kingdom, with 2018 boasting a total market value of £5.7 billion according to UKIE’s Games Industry in Numbers. Cambridge Regional College is part of this, with its Level 3 Games Development course (for students aged 16+) and student company Rizing Games. It’s well situated here in Cambridge, which is ranked as the 11th best city for gross value-added in the country by UKIE’s 2020 report Think Global, Create Local, with more than 800 full-time employees, a wealth of groups and societies and

Development at Cambridge Regional College, on equipping young people to enter this fast- moving industry

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