Game Studio Program 2024-2025 Wrap-Up

Now that the school year and the EGD Collective’s programs are wrapping up, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the incredible progress made by our students!

Here at EGD, we strive to provide students with the tools, mentorship, and hands-on experience needed to thrive in the game industry. With a diverse community of over 80 members across our career programs, we’d love to recognize and celebrate their achievements by hearing from them!

In this blog entry, we asked a few students in various programs about their experience, growth, passions, thoughts, and feedback for the EGD Collective.

How EXP "Levels Up" Students for the Game Industry

Let’s take a look at our Exploration Program (EXP), a launchpad for students who are curious about career paths in the game industry and want to develop the skills and networks needed for these careers.

Currently, our EXP students are working in groups to design various games, and each team will be showcasing one of theirs at Waffle Games, our free gaming convention on June 14th-15th!

One of the EXP game presentations at Waffle Games 2023!

To hear more about this, we approached one of our EXP students, Jeremiah, a CUNY BA student with a passion for graphic design and an interest in business. Like many others, his group has been busy making progress on their game.

Here’s how it’s going for them:

"Our group is doing well with our game. We all have been busy with personal and career moments, but we always make a turnaround to see everyone's updates. We presented a beta version, and the progress is janky but smooth at the same time."

We also asked him about his thoughts on the EGD Collective and the Exploration Program as a whole. Here’s what he had to say:

"From my experience, EGD is unique and has a good structure in terms of preparing us EXP students to be game designers. Some already have a level of skill in their path, but the program is always open to new students with no experience, which I appreciate a lot. I was experiencing moments of burnout from my transition into college, but EGD was supportive and lenient in helping me with the path I was attempting to take. I wanted to pursue my love for graphic design, and EGD helped out by placing me into game UX design, which I knew more than entrepreneurship. However, I was still interested in learning about developing a business of my own, so they set up the main courses that I would need but allowed some business courses I could take if I were still interested. Overall, this program is a social, unbiased, and diverse group of dedicated gamers who strive to be future game developers like myself. I wouldn't take away an amazing group like EGD."

Studio Aspen: Game Development Meets Real-World Experience

Now, we'll turn to our AAA simulation game studio, Studio Aspen, under the Fellowship Program! Here, students majoring in a games discipline develop skills in a simulated environment designed to provide a worthwhile experience, collaborating with others to create games.

We talked with one of our Aspen members, Zahir, another CUNY BA student studying game music and audio. Currently, he is working on the instrumentation and arrangement for biome themes in Studio Aspen’s game, Project Dreamscape!

When we asked him about his experience and progress in Studio Aspen, here’s what he told us:

"I really enjoy being in Aspen. We're finally in the endgame of production, and it's been really interesting to see the game transform from what it was to what it is now and to see my work be implemented. It's also been extremely educational. Not only have I been given a space to work on my craft and practice, but I've also gotten a lot of experience working in a team, and uniquely on the audio team, I've been working with another composer, something which I feel will really help in a real job."

Looking Ahead

As the EGD Collective continues to expand our reach and impact, the accomplishments of our amazing students don't stop. We strive to continue fostering a supportive learning environment and community that allows creativity and collaboration to flourish, and we hope to continue helping students achieve their potential.

The dedication and passion we see from our talented students year by year are paving the way for the future, and we can't wait to see even more success from them as they continue to grow, innovate, and make their mark in the gaming world!

Interested in one of these programs? Our application is live: https://app.dover.com/dover/careers/a6faa19e-6e37-43c8-8a07-5aeee5b29be5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow the EGD Collective on social media to get updates on our upcoming events and workshops (Twitter / Instagram / Facebook). We encourage you the community on the EGD Discord server to meet some new friends and gain access to our wide array of services and resources!

Finally, consider joining our membership program! Benefits of registering for our membership tiers include access to student support services, fellowship programs, and more. You can find more information on our website here.