pelialan koulutus ja klusterin muodostaminen eng
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Game education & cluster formation
Teemu Saarelainen, senior lecturer
Information technology / GameLab
Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences
Outline
Short history
Current state
Goals
Education
Projects
Future prospects
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Short history of game business @Kotka
2005-2006
Small game related projects by companies, proactive measures and education efforts begin
2007
One major player, Nitro Games, is formed as a spinoff from Nitro FX (digital media & ad company)
All programmers in the area graduated from KyUAS
A 3D-simulator project using game engine technology is started as a joint effort at KyUAS Energy & Software Labs
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Short history of game business @Kotka
2008
KyUAS begins regular game programming studies in small scale (6-12 credit units)
Content of the courses are kept tightly around core competences (C++, OpenGL, game engines)
Education is arranged together with Nitro Games’ lead developers
Lots of co-operation between the university & companies
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Short history of game business @Kotka
2008-2010
Only a couple of companies involved in the video games business: Nitro Games & SongHi Entertainment Ltd.
Nitro Games publishes several PC-games: East India Company, Conquest of the Americas, Pirates of Black Cove
Songwriting and composing company Tempo Music starts producing music and audio for games
SongHi Entertainment publishes an online game for making music
Game business is slowly growing in the region…
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Short history of game business @Kotka
2011
The game business grows heavily in Finland and also in the Kymenlaakso region
Lots of new companies are formed: Kukouri, Nordic Solutions Systems, Skyrock Games, Heliwood, Seepia, Routa Games, …
Cursor-led projects develop infrastructure and facilitate company growth
Examples
South-East Finland Game Cluster (Kaakon peliklusteri)
ICT-service producing networks (ICT-palvelujen tuottajaverkostot) www.playahub.com
DigiService
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Current state (fall 2012)
A joint development facility for game business: LevelUp
• 285 m2 of space for development, demos and meeting space
• equipment, software, mobile platforms, …
• located at Datariina
10+ companies, focused around Datariina
Game business directly employs more than 60 people, indirectly probably more than 100…
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Current state (fall 2012)
Education is offered both in the regional colleges as well as in the Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences
Education attracts people: 2.7 applicants / available seat
KyUAS GameLab has the same tools and software as the game companies and LevelUp
GameLab can be used as a testing and development platform for projects – the students are the workforce!
GameLab can also test new technology and tools
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Goals
KyUAS goal is to develop game education and expertise to form a spearhead and an attractive force
Education needs growing businesses and jobs in the area – and vice versa!
Game programming specialization at KyUAS relies also on other universities’ game education
Game education will be implemented in ”standardized form” with other universities and regional colleges
KyUAS takes part in national game business R&D –projects and supports regional development
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Education
Information technology programme, 40 seats / year
Game programming and network technology specilizations
Speclilization studies 90 credit units, lot more than before
Work practice 30 cu + thesis 15 cu
Total of 135 credit units – equals over 2 years !!!
Especially for game programmers but a graduated software engineer can also work in other application areas
Studies include plenty of business related projects
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Projects
KyUAS involved in two game business projects:
South-East Finland game cluster (regional project, 1M€) – Improves education infrastructure and content to better respond game business needs.
Game Cluster (Southern-Finland ERDF, 2.6M€) – Game production innovation & development, game industry development & education environments, improving business capabilities, publishing/distribution business development, communication & marketing.
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Project efforts (1/2)
Utilizing novel development environments
Student game idea competitions, sparring & mentoring
New game companies and their development & demo support
Networking and sales at international events
Expanding investor network and getting more investments for the region
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Project efforts (2/2)
Starting publishing/distribution business
Improving education cooperation and content
Joint networked learning environment
Business-oriented game research
Marketing and communications
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Future prospects
There’s a growing shortage of game professionals:
http://www.remedygames.com/jobs
http://rovio.fi/en/careers/Open-positions
http://www.bugbear.fi/join_us.html
http://www.redlynx.com/careers
http://skyrockgames.com/jobs-biz/
…
http://game-pro.fi/
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Future prospects
The game industry is growing in the Nordics, but especially in Finland the companies have an excellent reputation
Game studios in Kymenlaakso are already globally networked
Growth is limited mainly due to resources and investments – novel funding instruments are being formed (i.e. Tekes Skene)
Most importantly game studios need to produce AAA-quality game demos which enable publishing deals
Marketing is key – getting visiblity e.g. in the mobile app space is extremely difficult without a publisher
Game industry is in a good position and has a real chance to become one of the major business areas in the region
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012
Thank you! Questions?
Events this week:
• Game developers’ gathering tonight (8.11.) @Kotka, Pub Eduard, 18:00. Visiting company: Sulake
• Sulake Game Jam, 9.-10.11. @KyUAS GameLab
GameLab: http://gamelab.kyamk.fi
GameLab @Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KyAMK.GameLab
Teemu Saarelainen
+358 44 702 8555
T.Saarelainen 12.11.2012