For a regional collaboration between the games industry and the academy

Purpose and goal

The Department of Computing Science, Umeå University, has through the project strengthened its contacts with the regional digital games industry, incubators and other departments at the university. Through these contacts, the department can better help students who want to work in the games industry and provide better guidance for thesis projects in game development. A future computing science education with focus on game development is under investigation.

Expected results and effects

Through the project, the project leader has broadened his expertise in both game and software development. This, in turn, has given the project leader better opportunities to develop the current computer graphics course and plan for new courses. The new competencies have also come in handy when new thesis projects in the games industry have been planned. No research projects have yet been initiated. The results from the project are not expected to have full effect until 3-5 years from now.

Planned approach and implementation

The planned structure of the project to work at two digital game companies with different prerequisites has been successful. Through this arrangement, the project leader has gained an insight into how it can be to work both at a smaller independent game developer and a studio that is part of a larger company. The shorter visits to other companies have been a good complement and have resulted in several new contacts. The interviews and the survey conducted during the project have provided a useful foundation for future planning of the education.