Education on Game Design

When DigiPen, the very first game-focussed school, opened in the USA in 1985, the first case of a computer game to be put on the index in Germany had happened just one year before. Ever since, a lot has been done. In December 2007, the European Union has declared computer and video games as a part of culture. What a progress!

Given this, all designers, developers, producers and game designers engage in culture for a young and dynamic medium. Along with the rapid growth of the branch - as it also is the fact in other branches in Germany, Europe and worldwide - a dearth of high-skilled professionals becomes apparent.

Thus, regions and countries that have been liberal on electronic games for quite a long time were well advised. This open-mindedness does always imply to actively tackle the educational environment with this topic in order to enhance the willingness of tutors, professors and institutions as well as parents and families, to support this career aspiration.

Hence, it is not surprising that in North America (Canada and the USA), plenty of particularly private schools have been emerging since the mid 90s. In Europe, it was the University of Abertay of Dundee that has been hosting courses in game design since 1988.

In Germany, Berlin was on the cutting edge. Besides Silicon Studio where Carolin Batke and Thomas Langhanki dared to attend one first course, it was Games Academy in particular that established a steady choice of courses for the further qualification and vocational training in the branch.

Having started in 2000, Games Academy as a private vocational school offers state-approved degrees in design, programming, game design and producing. In 2007, Games Academy was rewarded with the special award of the developers branch at the German Developers Prize for their exemplary education.

The L4-Institute and the Mediadesign Academy offer courses that focus on game-related issues. In 2006, Mediadesign started undergraduate studies in game design. Given this, Berlin has become Germany's hotspot on the education for the games industry.

Recent - and mostly young - graduates should know that they pursue an occupation in the media branch. Admittedly, games have gained cult status. But what seems like an easy job on the computer, is hard and professional work.

Modern methods of production require trained communication skills: Whether by word of mouth, via e-Mail or on the phone. Explaining your position, debating or working in a team – that are important skills of a game designer.

Talent is important. A talent is a skill or a competence that goes beyond those of others. Mathematic skills, outstanding paintings or organizing abilities are things that can be determined very early. It is necessary to use them for the planning of your own career.

Basically the following occupational areas are to be filled:

Design / Digital Artist
Programming
Game Design
Producing

Furthermore, several departments require individual professionals, depending on genre and form of production. Such are:

Music and Sound
Multimedia / 2D Design
Webdesign
Business Administration

The classic "career changer", as the normal case of entry to the games industry, is already history. Without basic education and a long-term job specialization (internship), there are limited chances to enter this branch. Though vocational trainings that are offered by e.g. Games Academy are considered to be quite successful, they force students to pay tuition fees.

The industry itself criticizes the vast amount of game design studies which often turn out to be merely animation or multimedia courses. "The fact that they do not teach the things that we need, is scary" as David Braben (British Game Designer - Frontier) roughly described the British educational landscape. According to him, such courses will vanish within the next five years due to unsuccessfulness.

Universities with such educational offerings are rare in Germany. In contrast to Scandinavia or the USA renowned institutions such as the Swedish Blekinge Institute of Technology or the MIT in Cambridge (Massachusets) have been dealing with these topics for years.

In Germany, motivated students will have to keep on waiting to find public offerings making such a special education possible. By now, only single lectures or projects are offered by universities like Jena University, Magdeburg University or the Darmstadt Technical University.

Now all that remains is to wish all those young talents a lot of success on their way.