Member Article

BAFTA event gives students first glimpse of £10m

75 students from five local schools have become the first people to experience the £10m Sunderland Software Centre this week - at an event run by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and Sunderland Software City.

The students – from Castle View Academy, Red House Academy, Oxclose Community School, Washington School, Heaton Manor and St Hilds, Hartlepool – took part in a games design workshop and careers event organised as part of the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition.

The competition aims to inspire the game designers and game-makers of the future by giving young people the chance to design and create their own video game and develop it with industry professionals

The event allowed students to hear firsthand about careers in software and how commercial games are made from industry insiders before getting the chance to enter the competition, previous winners of which have been turned into real game prototypes.

Speakers included representatives of leading companies in the games industry including Thumbstar, Swallowtail, and local firms Eutechnyx and Ubisoft Reflections, makers of the Driver and Just Dance games.

David Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Sunderland Software City, the regional initiative driving and supporting the growth of the North East software industry, said:

“A huge part of Sunderland Software City’s role is inspiring the next generation of North East software talent and helping local young people see software as a realistic and rewarding career option.

“We know a lot of young people think software isn’t for people like them or has nothing to do with the things they’re passionate about, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Events like this are a great way of challenging those misconceptions and showing local young people the amazing places a career in software can take you.

“A team of local students recently won the Imagine Cup, the national software development competition run by Microsoft, and we’re hoping another North East team goes on to repeat that success in the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition – letting the rest of the country know the North East is the place to beat when it comes to young software talent.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Hart .