A LEADING mobile games studio based in Cirencester is working in partnership with the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) to bring real-world expertise to its games design and development courses.
Through the partnership, the Neon Play team meet regularly with members of the university’s School of Computing and Technology, advising on course content, giving presentations to students, providing mentoring and facilitating visits to the studio in Cirencester.
Oli Christie, chief executive of Neon Play, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting these UoG’s games courses.
“It’s incredibly important for us to help nurture the next generation of games makers.
“When we started Neon Play in 2010, we were really keen to collaborate with the university so we could give work experience and hopefully jobs to graduates,” he said.
Oli Christie at the Neon Play studio in Cirencester
The company’s first-ever employee graduated from the university with a BA Hons degree in Design for Interactive Media, and two further UoG graduates have also recently been employed.
Professor Kamal Bechkoum, head of the business and computing school, said: “Neon Play has been extremely active and enthusiastic about trying to help the university build a high-quality computing and games course.
“Their support and expertise has really added a new dimension to our courses, giving students first-hand practical experience of the industry to complement their studies.”
Students have also been set the challenge to build a prototype game which, if it achieves a high visual and gameplay standard, could be released under the Neon Play publishing division.
Jamie Stewart, academic course leader for computer games programming, said: “The support of Neon Play has been hugely beneficial, in particular giving students the chance to visit a real life, working studio and to see games being created and brought to the market literally in front of their eyes.
“Offering students the chance to have one of their own games released is an incredible opportunity and the students have been really excited to get to work.”
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