College Invests £1Million in Manchester’s Next Generation of Gaming Talent
Skwigly
Manchester’s burgeoning digital scene is set for a major boost as Access to Games opens the largest gaming college in the region to meet the rapidly growing needs of the video-games industry.
The games industry is the fastest growing creative sector in the world, contributing over £4 billion to the economy in UK (2016 figures) and Access to Games (a branch of Access to Music) is investing £1million in the latest software, facilities and industry teaching talent – which will be headed up by 24-year-old Mikael Hellberg.
Mikael is a seasoned game developer from Sweden, who will be overseeing the development of their games courses in a creative and collaborative environment from the Access to Games centre on Hulme Street in the heart of Manchester city centre.
Mikael said:
“Manchester’s games and tech sector competes on a global level. To keep it that way, and to cope with the predicted continued growth of the sector, we need to find and nurture home-grown talent. This helps with responding to the skills needs of the games community and develop a real eco-system’.
He continued:
‘Our students come from all backgrounds and academic achievements, as passion is key to succeed in any creative industry. Our team will teach and nurture the skills required by the industry. These include games art, character modelling and animation. They will also learn best practices about the business side of games production, including marketing, distribution and ultimately prepare them for the industry”.
Access to Games is a privately owned college, with courses are free for students aged 16-23. They currently train over 250 students in Manchester and over 2000 across the UK.
Access to Games offers specialized, industry-led pathways in Games Design starting in September 2017. From September 2018 they will also offer progression routes into Games Art & Technology and Animation & VFX. Students can train between 1 and 2 years and gain a nationally recognised B-Tech qualification extended Diploma in Creative Media Production.
Jason Beaumont, Director of Business Development commented:
“Access to Games is part of Access to Music a national creative college now celebrating it’s 25th year in teaching and training young creatives. We have centre’s throughout the UK and are renowned for training some of the UK’s finest music talent, including Ed Sheeran – who is now a patron of the brand. We look forward to training the next generation of gaming talent and contributing to a rapidly growing creative sector”.
GAMES FACTS
- The average salary for a games developer is £34,000
- The UK is the 6th largest global games market
- The UK has the largest hub of VR developers in Europe
- 167 games studios in the north-west
- £4.33billion in UK games sales in 2016
- Games workforce is the youngest in the creative media sector
- The UK has the largest hub of VR developers in Europe
- The gaming sector is worth £100billion globally
- Cheshire-based Playdemic recently reported their first $1m sales day with their latest game Golf Clash as they eye up annual turnover of $100m