In November 2022, award-winning games developer Ninja Theory hosted their first Cambridge LaunchPad Project Day
Twenty students from Swavesey Village College, Impington Village College, Coleridge Community College and North Cambridge Academy came to Ninja Theory’s central Cambridge office.
These lucky students were given the full Ninja Theory experience culminating in the production of their own videos with customised environments, characters, VFX, and even self-created audio all from their own imaginations. They were introduced to the many different departments that contribute to game creation and were able to get hands-on experience of the Unreal Engine too.
This was all made possible by the fantastic Ninja Theory team who guided the students through the day, imparting their knowledge and helping to bring the projects to life. A real highlight was being invited into the motion capture studio to watch a scene being acted out for an upcoming game. One student told us that he is now considering studying drama as it could help him into a career as a cutscene actor!
At the end of the day, we spoke with some of the students to find out what they enjoyed most about the day and what they learned:
“It was very fun! I enjoyed learning about the environment art and seeing all the elements of game making – how animation and effects brought our scene to life.”
“It’s a lot more complex than I thought! I’m wanting to make a game with my friend. I feel more invested in that project now I know what goes into making a game.”
“You don’t have to know everything, you can specialise in lots of different things. I enjoyed thinking about sound design and how it made the scene feel real.”
Character Art Director Dan Crossland told us what he hoped the students would get out of the day:
“I hope they were inspired. It’s just a glimmer into the components and the pieces that make up a game. If you can inspire them to delve more into each piece or whatever they find most interesting, then we’ve done our job.”
If you, your students or children have been inspired and want to get a taster of games development, click here to get an introduction to the Unreal Engine 5 software. Anyone could have the potential to become the next star of the gaming industry.