ABU DHABI, UAE – 25 November 2012: Halfway through the 16-month long training program, students of the twofour54 Gaming Academy, which was established in partnership with Ubisoft and SAE Institute, have developed their own individual video game design and completed a major group project, producing playable game demos. The nine students have been trained in Game Level Design since March of this year and will, upon completion in mid-2013, be equipped with the wide array of skills needed for the regional and international gaming industries.
The training program is designed to take full advantage of a number of new approaches to teaching and learning as well as leveraging the resources of Ubisoft to assist with teaching and mentoring students. Ensuring both relevance to industry and academic rigor, the program focuses in particular on developing games for the growing gaming community in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Though the students joined the Academy with varying backgrounds and levels of education they are all passionate about game creation and development. “I was so happy to find out that a state-of-the-art training facility was opening right here in Abu Dhabi that would allow me to pursue my passion in gaming,” said Yousef Bukhamas, an Emirati student.
“This is such a great initiative taken by twofour54 to partner with a giant like Ubisoft, whose games I have been a huge fan of since I was a child. I didn’t expect to have something like this in the UAE so soon; this is a great achievement for us,” said Fakhra Al Mansoori, an Emirati student.
Ubisoft, which set up the region’s first game development studio at twofour54’s Abu Dhabi campus last year, hopes to attract some of the talent produced through the Gaming Academy. “We will need to hire 100 employees in the coming five years so it is perfect that we have this group of wonderfully talented and creative students to choose from,” explained Yannick Theler, Managing Director of Ubisoft Abu Dhabi. “Taking part in the training of these students means we are able to educate them in what is required to have a long and successful career in the gaming industry, right from the start.”
Hadeel Miqdadi, another student from the UAE added: “The Gaming Academy offers us a great opportunity as it is a field which is new to the region. I always wanted to be part of game development and design so attending this program brings me one step closer to achieving that – it is much more exciting than pursuing my MBA which is what I was on track to doing before the Academy opened!”
Gaming is a strategic growth area given the size of the region and youthful population. Though video games are a highly popular pastime in the region and amongst young Arabs in general, it is rare to see digital games actually developed in the region. The Gaming Academy allows students to receive an international standard of training that prepares them for careers in this fast growing industry.
The Gaming Academy will welcome a second intake of students in September 2013.
Samer Marzouq
Digital Media Superhero, Online Marketing Pro, Mad-Men Fellow, Tech Junkie, Advertising Whiz, Chief-Blogging-Officer, Bilingual Copywriter, Amateur Photographer
