14 focus on southampton
Southampton Solent is game for success
Games students at Southampton Solent University are set to score future career success with the news that the university has been accepted into the Business and University Games Syndicate (BUGS), writes Alison Dewar
The partnership, achieved thanks to the efforts of university lecturers Dan Parkes and Nick Hampton, means that students now have a fast-track route to having their work seen by some of the best games industry professionals.
In addition, it gives them the chance to operate in the “real world“, developing industry- specific skills, raising their profiles and employability opportunities within the gaming industry.
Working together, students from all the university‘s games courses are being encouraged to develop games from scratch, learning what it‘s like to work with individuals with different skillsets, develop communication skills, work to deadlines, and ultimately, produce high-quality and publishable games that they can be proud of.
Once a game is completed, students can submit it to BUGS for review by studios such as Microsoft, Sony, Codemasters and The Creative Assembly. So far, over 50% of students who have participated in BUGS initiated events have found employment in the games industry.
Building on its links with BUGS, this year Southampton Solent is organising a membership-wide competition to redesign the group‘s logo; while BUGS itself is encouraging universities to submit the “best-of-the-best“ of their students‘ games, to be judged by leading figures in the games industry.
Other topics on the agenda included business mentoring, training courses, funded trips to games exhibitions overseas and crowdfunding.
“The landscape for people working in this industry has changed dramatically in recent years,“ continued Mitchell. “Digital games are now distributed through multiple channels, so publishing is much more flexible than it used to be, and the wider proportion of games development activity is being undertaken by small, independent games developers, often only one to three people.
“Many of these work from home studios and, as a result, can be somewhat isolated and unaware of new developments that they may be able to benefit from. Although it is early days, we can already see just how much a networking organisation was needed.“
Mitchell says the aim is for the group to be shaped and developed by members, and an online forum enables people to talk and share useful hints, tips and advice, as well as discuss ideas on topics and speakers for future events. In addition, various downloads are available from a Facebook page.
New support group
To provide help and support across the region for those working independently in the gaming industry, Southampton Solent‘s academic leader, Andrew Mitchell, has joined forces with the University of Portsmouth and Bournemouth University, to launch a new support network, the Southern Independent Games Network (SIGN).
The group‘s second meeting, held in January at Southampton Solent, focused on the range of funding sources available for games development. It attracted around 120 students and academic staff, plus a dynamic mix of experts and businesses who were keen to share their broad range of experience.
Mitchell said: “There is a lot of money and resources available to help start-up games businesses. It may take a little time to research which are the most suitable options for your own personal circumstances, but the effort can be extremely worthwhile and pay dividends.“
The group is keen to attract more members and anyone interested in making professional games either as an indie or freelancer can become involved with SIGN. To find out more, join their groups on Facebook or LinkedIn; follow them on Twitter; email Mitchell at
andrew.mitchell@solent.ac.uk or visit them at
www.facebook.com/SouthernIndependent GamesNetwork
Did you know?
The UK video games industry is the largest in Europe and currently employs over 9,000 highly-skilled development staff. The sector contributes approximately £1 billion to UK gross domestic product per annum and estimates from PwC suggest that the global market for video games will grow from $52.5 billion in 2009 to $86.8b in 2014.
Earlier this year the Government introduced measures that will enable SMEs to claim up to 25% tax relief on production costs. This, together with the R&D tax credit, is a part of an overall strategy to put the UK gaming industry on a level playing field with the world leaders in game development. It has also launched the Digital Business Academy, a selection of free online digital and business courses aimed to support technology start-ups across the UK.
Details: Andrew Mitchell
andrew.mitchell@solent.ac.uk www.facebook.com/ SouthernIndependentGamesNetwork
www.solent.ac.uk
www.businessmag.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – MARCH 2015
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