Callywith students visit UK’s biggest games event
28 students from the Level 3 Extended Diploma course in Games, Animation and VFX Skills travelled to Birmingham NEC last week for EGX 2018, the UK’s biggest games event.
28 students from the Level 3 Extended Diploma course in Games, Animation and VFX Skills travelled to Birmingham NEC last week for EGX 2018, the UK’s biggest games event.
The trip was an exciting learning opportunity for the students, who gained an insight into game development and the industry at large and came face-to-face with world renowned game creators.
Callywith Games Development Lecturer Jason Tinsley joined the students on the trip and felt the day was a resounding success, saying:
“The students embraced the opportunity wholeheartedly, with large numbers speaking to developers from a number of production studios, ranging from AAA companies through to Indie developers. Some students went even further, arranging work placements and investigating Higher Education options for later on in the year.”
Elliot, one of the games students on the trip, found EGX to be a valuable addition to his learning saying:
“It was a really cool experience, to wander round and meet and speak to the developers. It was nice to see the industry as a whole – a group of people who are really passionate about games design. They're obviously proud of what they do. If I had a job like that I'd be proud too”.
Student Josh was happy to receive a piece of advice from the developers he spoke to:
“They advised me to ignore reviews that aren't offering any kind of constructive feedback. I will OBEY their advice!”
Lecturer Gregory Bott finds an emote
Students got a closer look at the games industry at the Gamesindustry.biz Career Fair and were given advice from game developers, publishers and educators.
Games student Zoe said: “The whole thing was really cool. I spoke to some of the universities and I think I'll go to university now once I finish at Callywith College.”
Shannon and Helena were inspired by the University of Huddersfield team, saying:
“It was brilliant! I wanted to go onto higher education before and this has made me want to focus and try even harder to do so”.
Of course a big part of the day was about having fun! There was plenty of time for playing blockbuster games and both students and staff enjoyed getting hands-on with the world’s biggest PC and console games.
More information about the vocational Games, Animation and VFX Skills course can be found here.