Swedish games education specialist The Game Assembly (TGA) is marking a ‘new chapter’ with the launch of a campus in Liverpool – its first in the UK.
TGA will be moving into Liverpool’s Tea Factory and aims to be fully up and running by August, ready to offer bootcamp boosters for its first initial cohort of around 45 students who will start their course in September.
It follows the recent news that TGA has partnered with the City of Liverpool College to create a new gaming course, a two-year offering which will have three specialist pathways – Game Programmer, Level Designer and Game Artist.
“The location is ideal for transport and it’s just a great place to be for the students,” Matt Wilson, head of The Game Assembly UK, tells Prolific North. “It has a studio feel, not a school or lecture feel, which is what we wanted!”
On why TGA picked Liverpool as its first UK campus, for Wilson, it was an easy choice.
“Despite a difficult time for the games industry, we’ve seen some real, great growth in Liverpool. It’s a great city for that and the creative scene in Liverpool is fantastic.
“We want to keep some of this talent in the North West, right? We don’t want talent moving down South and elsewhere – we want to retain it. Liverpool’s a great place for that, more studios are moving over here and establishing in the region. There’s a lot of heritage here, including Sony setting up many years ago, so it feels fitting that we grow a brand new course and opportunity here.”
After approaching Liverpool City Combined Authority because of the city’s reputation within the games industry, he explains the support has been “incredible”.
“We felt welcomed. I’m really proud that [the UK base] it’s in Liverpool as I’ve lived around here for the last 15 years and I live on the Wirral now. Now we have the opportunity to grow something in a city that is constantly evolving and developing. It’s one of the best cities in the world!”
READ MORE: Why the games sector is a ‘significant asset’ generating £220m for Liverpool City Region
As a former teacher and most recently global learning and development manager at Cloud Imperium Games, Wilson shares why TGA courses are different to others you’ll find at a college and university level.
“Setting TGA up in the UK is about creating other opportunities, something that isn’t there necessarily at the moment for the games industry and students.
“From a further education point of view, I’m very vocal that I don’t feel that it’s fair that the only route students have into the games industry has a £30,000 price tag on it. For me, it’s important for TGA to be able to build something that creates a different opportunity for those that can’t afford to do that, those that don’t want to move away, and those that want to have a realistic opportunity to enter the industry.”
TGA is currently hiring for three teachers – with an emphasis that they are industry professionals, not career teachers – and plans to hire additional staff for its second cohort in year two.
On what sets TGA apart from other schools, he explains it’s all about the contact time teachers have with students, plus working closely with industry partners.
“Some of these courses that are available, they talk about like contact time but it’s around 30% and that reduces every year. We have 100% contact time. We’re in every day, five days a week, nine to five on site in the studio,” he explains.
Although it’s not about bashing university courses, as a former teacher he’s seen how “amazing talent” has been “lost” after being left to their own devices as time with teachers continues to reduce.
“That’s not how the industry works. You don’t get a job in the games industry and get left alone. You’re part of the team with people who are with you all the time as they develop you through that role in that industry. You’re not working independently. So many of those students just get lost in it, wanting to be in the games industry, and it doesn’t work out for them.”
To do this, TGA is ‘industry-first’ and has started working with a number of games studios across the UK who will form part of the school’s advisory board and be involved in its curriculum.
“We have a different model, it’s not a degree it’s about making sure that students on our courses are industry ready with the skills to do the job so they’re not having to go and do a Masters afterwards or continuously develop their portfolio in a hope for a job. No, they’ll have the skillset right now for what the industry is looking for.”
Industry partnerships are a key focus for TGA to ensure its curriculum aligns with current industry needs. So far, the education specialist has confirmed nine studio partners with more set to be revealed. They include: Studio Gobo; Electric Square; Lucid Games; 10:10 Games; Cloud Imperium Games; Skyhook Games; Radical Forge; GameTools; and Avalanche Studios.
