This Month, IE held an event presenting its new discipline in the School of Architecture & Design and discussing its future in creative industries.
IE’S New Discipline
Year after year, IE introduces new degrees in both the undergraduate and master’s tracks. But IE’s newest discipline has eyes on a new field entirely. The new bachelor’s in design is named Videogame Design & Virtual Environments Track, as well as the new master´s program that is being introduced.
The bachelor’s is a four-year program in Madrid and Segovia designed to equip students with the skills to create immersive and impactful experiences with a focus on sustainability and cutting-edge technologies. Emphasizing hands-on experience, interdisciplinary collaboration, leadership, strategic thinking, and finally the ability to forge the future of video gaming.
The master’s is a 10-month program in Madrid and is designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to lead in the ever-evolving sector of game design and development and the conception and execution of virtual environments.” while focusing on creativity, sustainability & entrepreneurship in the videogame industry. Students will also blend practical skills regarding game design & its technologies along with softer skills like strategic foresight.
The degrees above have been part of a conversation the School of Architecture and Design has been having for a while regarding creative industries and the possibility of becoming even more involved in such fields. Creative industries make up 3.1% of the global GDP and 50 million jobs, and this field becoming even more intertwined with more traditional environments like health, education, architecture, real estate, and retail.
The Future of the Gaming Industry
IE isn’t the only group that is choosing to invest in the future of the gaming industry. The city of Madrid is also joining the development. The city hall of Madrid has decided to start a new project Madrid in Game. with Madrid being second in Europe for graduates with a videogame degree, Madrid is facing a 16.29% yearly growth with over 200 enterprises bringing an 800 million euro turnover city hall has made a list of strategic pillars to further the industry the cluster, and the campus.
The cluster is a group of 70 companies institutions and universities in different sectors such as IE, Delloite, AWS, EA, etc., and one of the largest digital ecosystems in Europe to collaborate to generate benefits for participants and society as a whole. The cluster’s mission is to make Madrid a top E-Sports venue while increasing innovation and the capacity of video game companies and aligning companies to hire more recent graduates enhancing the industrial framework of the sector in Madrid.
The map of the campus with its three main locations highlighted – courtesy of Madrid in Game Website
The campus is a physical virtual space located in Casa De Campo with more than 3,000 m2 and three pavilions each one with its initiative to support three pillars regarding the gaming industry: development, experience, and Esports. The experience center is where exhibitions, workshops, conferences, and events are held. The esports center is a public training area for individuals and teams to professionalize the competitive industry. Lastly, the development center is where the core of the entrepreneurship program hosting tools and hardware to develop games.
Photo of the panellists right to left Ruxandra Iancu, Jose Raluy, and Enrique Agudo – Courtesy Yanna King
The Panel
The Panel at the event featured three speakers from the gaming industry and design industry to further develop the craft, entrepreneurship, and sustainability aspects of the industry. One of the speakers was Jose Raluy who has been working as an Engineering Manager at Electronic Arts. He has also worked on projects like Castlevania, and Shadow Space Lords and on the business side: marketing roadmap and scaling. Then there was Enrique Agudo; New Media Artist, Design Strategist, and Creative Director, he is a graduate of IE University and focused on how we interact with technology, he also released a short film called the pantheon of queer mythology. Third, Ruxandra Iancu; Computational Researcher, 50SuperReal Cofounder, faculty, and the principal researcher at our school Center for Sustainable Cities.
The panel went into multiple topics including craft in digital design, the commercial side of things, the influence of technology, innovation on business and entrepreneurship, and the classroom message of sustainability and equity.
Ruxandra Lancu explains “The road is visible but it’s not constructed. It’s not like a map that we go discovering. It’s more like those old school games where you only see the bit that you’ve explored… the world is your oyster”. These not-yet-explored areas have all the potential to be made into whatever the students cracking into the field want them to be or better yet all the new ideas coming together to be the the building blocks for the road in this field.
Featured image: Poster for the from ¨Classroom to Console Event” – courtesy IE Connects
