CA Partners with East London Arts and Music Academy
August 22 2017 | Legacy Project
Multi-award winning games studio and creators of the Total War franchise, Creative Assembly, has partnered with 16-19 Academy, East London Arts and Music (ELAM) to deliver a new Game Design course.
This is the first integrated partnership in the UK for Further Education Game Design that will see students following an industry-developed curriculum. The course gives students the opportunity to learn game-making on a holistic level, encompassing games art, mechanics, programming, storytelling and sound alongside mentoring, masterclasses, workshops and more, from Creative Assembly’s experts.
Certified as outstanding in all areas by Ofsted, ELAM places central importance on being in touch with the creative industries, bridging the gap between education and industry. Over a quarter of ELAM’s students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and over 70% are from a BAME background, a demographic that is currently underrepresented in the games industry.
Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly, said:
“As a leader in the UK games industry we are committed to educating the future games development talent of tomorrow, and driving innovation through diversity.
“ELAM is working to address the shortfall in the UK’s creative skills shortage and we look forward to sharing our expertise that come with 30 years of making world-class games to help them achieve this.”
Charlie Kennard, Principal at East London Arts and Music, said:
"The UK games industry is currently the 6th largest in the world, employing around 25,000 people, yet the education system is not preparing students with the specialist skills the industry requires. Creative Assembly join other ELAM partners, including Universal Music UK and Abbey Road Studios, to give trainees the opportunity to regularly engage with the industry and gain a level of professionalism, raising the standard of undergraduates before they go to university.”
The UK games market is thriving, with games generating £2.96bn in 2016, 1.3 times the size of the video market (£2.25bn) and 2.6 times the size of music (£1.1bn) . UK games rank among the most popular in the world , with Creative Assembly’s Total War™ series seeing a franchise record-breaking monthly average of 1.2m global players in 2017.
ELAM and Creative Assembly are encouraging students with an interest in games to sign up to the new Game Design course here.
To read more about Creative Assembly's commitment to education, read about the Legacy Project here.
Notes to editors:
- Creative Assembly is one of the UK's leading games development studios, founded in 1987 and located in West Sussex, UK and in Sofia, Bulgaria. With a heritage of award-winning AAA titles, including the multi-million selling Total War™ series, Creative Assembly continues to build an impressive portfolio of games and world-renowned partnerships; working with Games Workshop on Total War™: WARHAMMER®, Wargaming Alliance on Total War™: ARENA, Twentieth Century Fox on Alien: Isolation, plus 343 Industries and Microsoft on Halo Wars 2. Creative Assembly has, with their exceptionally talented team of over 500, amassed a wealth of awards, including recent accolades from BAFTA, Music+Sound and Develop’s Industry Excellence awards. www.creative-assembly.com
- ELAM is a full-time Industry Academy for 16-19 years olds interested in pursuing a career in Games Design, Music and Film and Television Production. The course at ELAM has been designed in conjunction with the creative industries to ensure all Trainees have the skills, knowledge and portfolio of work they need to enter the creative industries when they finish ELAM. There are three main courses at ELAM, Music, Games Design and Film & Television Production. Trainees on these courses will take either UAL or BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma which is the equivalent to 3 A-Levels in UCAS Points and contact time. In addition to any of these qualifications, all Trainees study Maths and English as the skills developed in both are critical for success in the creative industries. The level at which Trainees study Maths and English depends on their starting level upon entry. We offer A-Levels, AS Levels, Level 3 Qualifications and GCSEs in both Maths and English. www.elam.co.uk/games-design/