Fresh on the heels of a national game industry conference last weekend, approval has been granted for New Zealand's first ever game development degrees.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has given the green light for Auckland's Media Design School to run two degrees aimed at supplying the country's thriving games industry with new talent.
From August, aspiring developers and designers will be able to study Bachelor of Creative Technologies (Game Art) and Bachelor of Software Engineering (Game Programming) degrees.
Offering world-class degrees in a high growth digital sector is a natural and exciting progression, said Media Design School CEO Frances Valintine.
"The New Zealand game industry is growing due to the global demand for game content across all platforms _ console, mobile, PC and online.''
Valintine said projected future demand for game programmers and artists exceeds the level of qualified graduates entering the sector each year.
Few industries offer the job security and level of salary that game graduates receive, she said.
The degrees have been developed with input from local and international game studios and will offer students projects designed to replicate the studio environment.
According to a survey by the New Zealand Game Development Association (NZGDA), the local games industry grew 46 per cent, or by 114 jobs, last year and there are now about 450 full-time game development jobs in the country.
It is a great time to consider a career in games, said NZGDA chair Stephen Knightly.
"Video games are high-tech, creative, digital exports - exactly the kind of products New Zealand wants to export more of.''
Knightly said game development skills are highly transferable to other areas of the digital sector, such as web design, advertising and animation.
The Media Design School has been running a Graduate Diploma of Game Development since 2004.
Over 200 industry players attended New Zealand's first ever game developer conference in Auckland on Saturday.
- By Ben Chapman-Smith of Herald Online
