Speaking from experience here, breaking into the video game industry is not an easy thing at all. In the earliest days of gaming, of course, it used to be that if you had a little bit of skill and the right equipment, you could make your own title or join a team of fellow developers with little effort. But as video games became more complicated and expensive, developers took a more hardline stance on who would be on their teams. They often wanted people with a LOT of experience, which obviously left people who just got out of college out in the cold. But, there might be hope for some of you out there as legendary developer Rocksteady Studios is teaming up with multiple partners to make a new gaming Academy in the UK.
For those who don’t know the name, Rocksteady Studios is the team behind the Batman Arkham Trilogy, some of which are praised as some of the best superhero games ever made. What’s more, they’re the team behind the upcoming Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League title that’ll arrive next year. We hope, just saying.
Anyway, this 12-week academy course aims to help young developers potentially break into the video game industry. All the while helping those who wouldn’t naturally get a chance to try and put themselves into the industry in an organic way, if that makes sense. If you are in the UK, you can actually apply to the academy right now. The things you’ll loosely learn in the course are about art, game design, audio for the title, and, quite fairly, quality assurance.
If you’re hoping for a more detailed breakdown before you apply, we can help with that too.
They note that you will not just be taught a variety of topics, but industry professionals will teach you them. In this case, Rocksteady Studios more than likely and their various partners who are trying to bring this academy to life.
You’ll also learn about networking and how to try and build up a portfolio as you start to go from game studio to game studio so you can continue to get jobs potentially. Additionally, you’ll learn more about communication within the game studio so that everyone is on the same page and the best work can get done.
Furthermore, you’ll do a brief live assignment, and the Rocksteady team will be there to give you feedback on it. All the while getting constant advice and insight on how to handle your potential gaming career and what to do to advance it.
While we can’t say for sure that this program will “guarantee you a job” in the industry. We can say that it’s nice to see such options available.
Source: Warner Bros Discovery