Manchester’s burgeoning digital scene is set for a major boost as Access to Games opens the largest gaming college in the region to meet the rapidly growing needs of the video-games industry.
The games industry is the fastest growing creative sector in the world, contributing more than £4 billion to the economy in UK (2016 figures) and Access to Games (a branch of Access to Music) is investing £1 million in the latest software, facilities and industry teaching talent – which will be headed up by 24-year-old Mikael Hellberg.
Mikael is a seasoned game developer from Sweden, who will be overseeing the development of their games courses in a creative and collaborative environment from the Access to Games centre on Hulme Street in the heart of Manchester city centre.
“Manchester’s games and tech sector competes on a global level. To keep it that way, and to cope with the predicted continued growth of the sector, we need to find and nurture home-grown talent. This helps with responding to the skills needs of the games community and develop a real eco-system,” he said.
Our students come from all backgrounds and academic achievements, as passion is key to succeed in any creative industry – Mikael Hellberg, game developer
He continued:
“Our students come from all backgrounds and academic achievements, as passion is key to succeed in any creative industry. Our team will teach and nurture the skills required by the industry. These include games art, character modelling and animation. They will also learn best practices about the business side of games production, including marketing, distribution and ultimately prepare them for the industry”.