Construction trial of a practical education curriculum for game development by industry–university collaboration in Japan

Abstract

Games together with manga and anime as represented by Japanese technological advances are highly evaluated in other countries. In recent years, games have been developing at a fast rate and a deep understanding of the game development procedures is needed in order to keep up with the advancements in technology. Yet, there has been no consistent education program designed specifically for game production in the Japanese higher education institutions. In contrast to this, game education is on the rise among American and European Universities. A curriculum framework has even been created by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) with positive progress shown by cooperating with the industry. As very few efforts have been made so far in Japan to develop an education program for game development, there was no common ground where production methodology could be designed and taught. Due to this the industry developed its own unique production styles, and production methods became a trade secret, complicating the relationship between the universities and the industry. Current game development education in Japan consists mostly of lectures conducted by part-time teaching staff hired by several colleges. In response to this, at the Tokyo University of Technology (TUT), we have designed a curriculum in collaboration with Premium Agency, Inc. that aims to offer training in the practical aptitudes that are demanded by the game development industry. We have added lessons to the traditional faculty curriculum, combining lectures and exercises in a game development context, leading to the number of students that are acquiring knowledge in game development skills such as programming, CG and planning to grow year by year. As a result, the development of this game oriented curriculum has been strongly welcomed by the game industry.