Cambridge’s ‘School of Dreams’ prepares to take E3 by storm
Cambridge’s ‘School of Dreams’ is off to E3 expo – the world’s leading show for computer and video games – to exhibit its student games alongside industry giants.
Games development students at Cambridge Regional College, who market their games through their own student-run Rizing Games company, will be unveiling their latest creations at the giant expo in Los Angeles this week.
The college, dubbed the School of Dreams on an earlier visit to E3, was the first UK FE college to exhibit games created by the students at its own stand – and is still the only one to do so.
Thirty-eight students studying on the college’s popular Games Development course are going to the Los Angeles event – the largest contingent to do so in the college’s fourth year as exhibitors.
They will be showcasing seven games for console, iOS and Android, ranging from sport racing games to adventure shooter and puzzle games. The college is the first to release student games on console.
The student-run company has won wide support from the industry, including ARM, which has donated tablets, and Unity, which has provided software. Luke Savage, Senior Academic Development Manager at PlayStation First and Laura Dilloway of inkle studios have also been big supporters of Rizing Games.
Course leader Michael Warburton, winner of a Bafta YGD award for Mentor of the Year, said exhibiting at E3 gave the students a worldwide audience for their games.
“Rizing Games is a unique games publishing company. We are the only college worldwide to run a commercial educational development and publishing studio like this, and we are the first college to do console releases, supported by PlayStation First,” he said.
“We have built up worldwide awareness through exhibiting at E3 and mixing with some of the biggest companies in the industry. It is fantastic experience for the students, who put a lot of work into marketing their games as well as creating them, building up a great deal of business experience alongside their games development skills.
“Last year, we were described as the ‘Games Class of 2016’ at E3 by ESA (Entertainment Software Association) and before that we were called the ‘School of Dreams’, which was a fantastic accolade and attracted a huge amount of interest for the students’ games – giving them a truly international audience.”
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