Posted by Irvine Sign Company
Posted by Irvine Business Sign Company
Want to major in games and interactive media? Azusa Pacific University has got your number.
The school is gearing up to launch a bachelor of arts and minor program in those areas to prepare students for an industry that’s ramping up fast and generating billions in revenue.
The program — the first of its kind among the 140 universities that comprise the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities — will begin in the fall of 2019. It will offer courses that extend beyond the elements of game development, from technology and production to leadership and project management. Students will gain skills that integrate narratives, game mechanics, art and sound, the university said.
A deep dive
“This is a comprehensive undergraduate program where students will take general ed courses and at least 50 units of a core set of gaming courses,” said Tim Samoff, a professor at the school and director of the program. “It’s devised to give them a well-rounded education and a pretty deep dive into what it takes to design games.”
The final set of courses will find students teamed up over the span of a year to create a video game from the ground up.
“The minor is 22 units,” said Samoff, who has worked in interactive gaming and web design for 30 years. “It was developed to allow students who are majoring in related areas like computer science to get a pretty good smattering of what it means to create a game. That program can be completed in two years.”
Plenty of jobs to choose from
Graduates will have a variety of employment options, ranging from video game testers, designers and project managers, to custom support agents, community managers and graphic designers.
A report from the Entertainment Software Association says the U.S. video game industry consisted of 2,457 companies in 2016 that directly and indirectly supported 220,000 jobs.
The study notes the game industry grew its employment in 2015 at an annual rate of 2.9 percent, more than double the rate of the overall U.S. job market.
That trend has likely continued upward, as CNN Money ranked video game designer No. 37 on its 2017 Best Jobs in America list, with a median income of $81,000 and top pay of $147,000.
Stephen Johnson, dean of the College of the Arts at APU, said his school is well positioned to prepare students for careers in the gaming industry.
“APU’s proximity to the multimedia industry hub of Los Angeles and our faculty’s connections to leading game companies set our program in a distinctive place,” Johnson said in a statement. “Students will learn from faculty who are actively leading in multiple aspects of the industry in prominent companies.”
Big money
One thing is certain — the industry is generating big money.
Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report predicts that 2.3 billion gamers across the globe will spend $137.9 billion on games in 2018. That represents an increase of 13.3 percent from the previous year — or $16.2 billion.
Mobile gaming will account for the biggest segment, the study said, following 10 years of double-digit growth since the first iPhone was launched in 2007. Mobile revenues are expected to grow by more than 25 percent year-over-year to reach $70.3 billion. This means that for the first time, more than half of all game revenues will come from the mobile segment.
Brett Session, a client success director with Newzoo, said an increasing number of universities are offering gaming-specific programs.
“The e-sports industry is really on the rise in terms of audience size and the amount of money that’s being spent,” he said. “Colleges and universities see the potential and want to be part of that growth and popularity.”
The Newzoo report shows video game courses and programs are being offered at 940 American educational institutions of higher learning.
APU will also play host to a Global Game Jam in January. The annual event brings people together to create games.
[Read More ...]
Posted by Irvine Sign Maker
For Free Sign Estimate Visit: Lighted Channel Letters Irvine ca
Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5
No comments:
Post a Comment