Developer criticises Ireland’s games courses

Kelly, a leading figure of IDGA Ireland, has criticised game development education in Ireland.

Kelly, co-ordinator the of Ireland branch of the International Game Developers Association,
has written an extensive report on the state of game development
education. Titled “The Problems with Game Development Education in
Ireland”, it focuses on both the Republic and Northern Ireland and is
published at gamedevelopers.ie.

His main point of disapproval is “the apparent re-badging of
traditional media and computer science courses to include the word
‘games’ somewhere in the title, while failing to adapt the content
and instruction offered to deal with real-world issues”.

Also outlined was a lack of industry consultation over course
content, a lack of industry-experienced lecturers, a failure to update
course content in keeping with the industry change, a failure to
communicate with the industry in regards to work placements, too many
short certificate and diploma courses, and a failure to include enough
team-based projects.

Problems aren’t confined to Irish courses; noting the industry accreditation scheme ‘Skillset’
set up in the UK last year, Kelly said that only four of forty games
development courses there were awarded accreditation. The report also
states, “industry commentators in the UK, US and Canada have voiced
similar concerns”.

Kelly, a founder of IGDA Ireland, is an executive producer at Nephin
Games in Galway. He has previously worked at Intel and Instinct
Technology. He is a contributor to IGDA papers, and has judged the
Irish legs of the Dare to be Digital student developer competition.

In the article, he says it is not intended as a “course bashing
rant”, saying, “I am not alone in wishing I was able to recommend
many of the Irish games development courses to aspiring students rather
than encourage them to go to the UK and attend one of the more
established courses”.

Pointing out that games development is “closer to Arts education
than Science education” Kelly says courses should portfolio-based. He
adds that there should be a focus on teamwork, “In the real world,
your students will rarely if ever be doing projects on their own”.

The article points to the IGDA’s ‘Curriculum Framework’ as a
guide, and advises collages to contact the IGDA Ireland, the local
industry, or go to the education forums at gamedevelopers.ie.