Game on – Algonquin College grads level up on National Video Game Day

Posted on Thursday, September 12th, 2024

Video games are everywhere, from phones to laptops to consoles. Students from the 2011 game development program attending the Montreal International Game Summit in 2010 with Algonquin College.

Algonquin College’s Game Development program offers learners the chance to become a part of an ever-growing and in-demand industry.

The three-year diploma program provides students with hands-on learning and a team-oriented environment that simulates the work setting found in large game studios. Throughout the program, students learn the design and critical thinking skills needed to find employment in the game development industry.

Other areas of study include game design and development, traditional and digital imaging, authoring, animation and programming.

James Aiken graduated from the program in 2018 and today works as the lead backend developer at Clipwire Games. “My work covers the infrastructure, servers and more, plus numerous (other) responsibilities,” he said. “I’ve been involved primarily with development on [a game called] Bingo Story, but I’ve been involved with the development of Word Buddies, Solitaire Buddies, Spin Inc., Bingo World Tour and The Price Is Right: Bingo.”

Adam Crawley graduated in 2011 and has worked at Ubisoft and Blizzard and currently works for a new PlayStation studio called Haven. “As a gameplay programmer on those games, I worked on the weapons, gadgets, camera and player character abilities,” he said. “Algonquin gave me a strong foundation for the fundamentals, and an environment to learn and work as a team with other students.”

Group work was also something 2020 graduate Travis Britton cited as being an important key to his successful time at the College, in addition to a few other factors. “The group work is really important, the management class is insane for teaching you things from the actual business, it’s very good and Tilan taught me how to teach myself, which is the entire job.”

Britton’s advice to future students is “don’t be limited by the curriculum. Find what you like, branch out and have fun.” Aiken agrees on finding opportunities. “Seek out new challenges, continue to refine your skills, and continue to actively look for new skills to harness. For example, while a lot of my time at Clipwire was focused on frontend development, I felt that I had reached the limit of my growth. I made the switch to the backend department alright with some general knowledge, but it was a way for me to challenge myself, learn new skills, languages and more, while still playing an important role in the future of Clipwire and the future of our games. I sought out a challenge to continue to push myself. Current students should strive to do the same.”

To learn more about Algonquin College’s Game Development program visit this link.

Cover image – Former student Adam Crowley graduated in 2011. Here he is with former classmates who attended the Montreal International Game Summit in 2010 with Algonquin College.


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