TIGA Accredited Universities Unlock a Career into Games Development

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21 Mar, 2016, 00:01 GMT

LONDON, March 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

TIGA, the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the games industry, published a new report today which shows that TIGA Accredited Universities typically have a high proportion of graduates securing jobs in the video games industry: this ranges from 20 per cent to 67 per cent on undergraduate TIGA Accredited courses and from 53 per cent to 100 per cent on MSc TIGA Accredited courses. TIGA published the data in a report, TIGA University Accreditation (TIGA, 2016) which also highlights the excellent work that TIGA's Accredited Universities are delivering.

TIGA introduced the TIGA Accreditation process in January 2015. Since then, 16 courses at the following universities achieved TIGA Accreditation: Bournemouth University (1 course); Portsmouth University (2 courses); Sheffield Hallam University (3 courses); University of the West of England (1 courses); Staffordshire University (7 courses); and City University London (2 courses).

TIGA's report shows that TIGA Accredited Universities typically:

have a high proportion of graduates securing jobs in the video games industry: this ranges from 20 per cent to 67 per cent on undergraduate TIGA Accredited courses and from 53 per cent to 100 per cent on MSc TIGA Accredited courses. Students from these courses who are not working in the games industry are typically securing graduate jobs, often in other related sectors.
strong links with industry: for example, Sheffield Hallam University has close ties with Sumo Digital and Staffordshire University works closely with Epic Games.
have access to high quality infrastructure, facilities, hardware and middleware: for instance, the games courses are part of Sony's PlayStation First academic programme, which ensures students have early access to Sony's latest console technologies. City University London boasts The City Interaction Lab which gives students opportunities to work with cutting edge technologies. University of Portsmouth provides students with access to a Motion Capture Suite and a Virtual Reality lab.
demonstrate innovation and best practice: for example, Sheffield Hallam University has its own commercial games development studio, Steel Minions, which gives students the opportunity to engage in real world games development. Similarly, UWE provides the in-house PlayWest development studio which affords students valuable opportunities to work in an industry environment on commercial projects. Likewise, Portsmouth provides facilities for student start-up companies in the University's Innovation Space during their placement year.
provide students with a wide range of industry related skills.
develop particular skillsets: at Bournemouth University there is an emphasis on developing technical skills in the context of working as part of small development teams where versatility is valued. City University London's games courses deliver a range of hard programming skills. The University Of Portsmouth equips graduates with the necessary skills to enter the games industry or even start their own business in the games industry. Sheffield Hallam University has a particular emphasis on console development skills. Staffordshire University's accredited courses develop a wide range of industry relevant skills that meet the needs of small indie games businesses and large AAA studios. Finally, the University of the West of England has a valuable focus on commercial game development practices, running small development teams on their course.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:

"We introduced the TIGA Accreditation system to ensure that universities and colleges can produce graduates with industry relevant skills and to enable both prospective students and game developers to identify those courses that are producing industry ready graduates. The TIGA Accreditation process also works to highlight and disseminate best practice. Today's Report shows that TIGA Accredited Universities are providing graduates with a wide range of industry relevant skills, demonstrating innovation and best practice in education and learning, building strong relationships with industry and unlocking the door to a career in games development. I hope that more universities will work towards TIGA Accreditation and so benefit students, industry and higher education."

Chris Kingsley, CTO at Rebellion and Chair of TIGA's Education Committee said:

"UK video games developers are crying out for talented staff with the right skills to help them make world class games. The TIGA Accreditation scheme is a great example of how the industry is working with universities to help guide and nurture a new generation of developers with the right skills."

Dr Mark Eyles, Principal Lecturer; Course Leader, University of Portsmouth and TIGA Education Adviser, said:

"The TIGA Accreditation initiative has enabled us to start building a collegiate network of exceptional games development courses who are able to share best practice at TIGA Education Group meetings and within the TIGA network. The TIGA Accreditation process enables courses to demonstrate the ways in which they are working with games developers to ensure that their students are 'industry ready' on successfully completing their courses. The TIGA Accreditation process is also able to identify course strengths and make recommendations for future improvements. TIGA Accreditation forms part of the Key Information Sets (KIS) that all courses are required to display on their web pages, clearly signalling to potential students that these course have been recognised and approved by industry."

Universities interested in applying for TIGA Accreditation should contact: richard.wilson@tiga.org or Mark.Eyles@port.ac.uk

About TIGA
TIGA is the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry. Our core purpose is to strengthen the games development and digital publishing sector. We achieve this by campaigning for the industry in the corridors of power, championing the industry in the media and helping our members commercially.

TIGA is intent on building an enduring organisation which continually improves; a business that will make a significant impact on the games industry and so benefit our membership and the wider economy. Since 2010, TIGA has won 24 business awards, an achievement which reflects TIGA's drive for improvement and to meet best practice.

For more information visit: http://www.tiga.org

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