The games industry is a international growth market. With annual sales of 57 billion dollars (fiscal year 2008) the industry generates more sales than, for example, the movie industry. Germany with 2,68 billion euro sales (2008) is the second most important market in Europe for entertainment software. The most recent study „German Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012“ made by public accountants of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) (Link) predicts an above-average growth for games, in Germany and worldwide.

Additional Informations:
Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware e.V (Link)
GAME – Bundesverband der Entwickler von Computerspielen (Link)

The games industry is a market growing worldwide: Sales in the industry exceed even those of the motion picture and music industries. Computer game sales worldwide reach more than 45 billion dollars annually, and hit titles like Activions™ Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2™, which made 550 million dollars in the first week of sale, point to a bright future for the industry.

Computer and video games are a recognized form of culture and art: All over the world governments realize the potential and power of computer and video games. Previously controversial discussions look more and more at the cultural relevance and impact of this form of entertainment. The positive effects on mental health, social skills and even physical fitness (especially on newly-introduced platforms like the Nintendo Wii ™) are being recognized. The medium has achieved its breakthrough toward general recognition and opened itself up to a much larger and more diverse audience.

Close cooperation of the many creative trades
Working in games involves a unique blend of art, creativity and technology. The gaming industry unites artists, 3D artists, game designers, programmers, and producers all working to create digital game worlds and entertainment. These creative people have enormous freedom – more than you will find in most other branches of media – to realize their dreams.

GAMES ACADEMY was founded in March 2000 as the first German college to specialize in computer and video game production. A founding member of the industry association G.A.M.E. e.V., the association of German speaking developing studios, GAMES ACADEMY takes an active part in furthering the industry’s development in German-speaking countries.

More than 150 private lecturers, mostly of them professional game developers, currently teach at GAMES ACADEMY, enabling the institution to guarantee practically-oriented education. GAMES ACADEMY provides an extraordinary amount of space for the creative development of its students, including lecture rooms, laboratories and a main auditorium.

GAMES ACADEMY in Berlin is a approved supplementary college. Approval for the branch in Frankfurt/Main is still pending.

What kinds of jobs are available in the game industry? The obsolete positions as ‘game developer’ do not exist anymore, as well as the olden days in which a programmer created the sounds or an artist cooked up a story – these times are gone! Such things like all-round game developers are absolutely unthinkable in multi-million Dollars projects. Games are nowadays developed by experts, trained in their very own profession and with their very own profile and creativity.

Job profiles and their corresponding names find quite different variations in the industry as well as in the media; this is the reason why GAMES ACADEMY uses solely internationally renowned job names. Those names are commonly used by the IGDA (international Game Developers Association), as well as the online magazine Gamasutra.com. Here is a list of job profiles which are best suited at GAMES ACADEMY with their corresponding courses:

• Product Manager (Game Production)
• PR Manager
• Game Designer (Game Design)
• Game Producer (Game Production)
• Programmer (Game Programming)
• Interface Designer (Game Design)
• Graphics Designer (Game Art & Animation)
• Level Designer (Game Design)
• Modeller (Game Art & Animation)
• Animator (Game Art & Animation)
• Localisation Manager
• Writer
• Community Manager
• QA Manager (Game Design)