Games Design students gain industry experience

Level 3 Games Design and Animation learners at Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) recently had the opportunity to take part in a professional games testing project with award winning local studio, Playtonic Games.

As part of a live brief, students helped test the remastered release of Playtonic’s game, Yooka-Laylee, titled Yooka-Replaylee, and have now seen their names featured in the game’s official credits.

A group of six students visited Playtonic’s headquarters before being given access to early builds of the highly anticipated title. Each student was tasked with testing specific elements of the game, and developers observed the gameplay closely, examining whether players understood the challenges, moved through the world as intended, or encountered any technical issues. After each session, students submitted a structured report outlining findings, allowing Playtonic to compare user behaviour and refine gameplay based on real audience experience.

The project is part of a wider partnership with Playtonic, which includes regular industry related talks, workshops and live briefs. The College also recently launched state-of-the-art Games Development Studios in partnership with Playtonic, featuring advanced hardware from Corsair and a fully equipped Motion Capture Suite.

Level 3 Games Design & Animation student, TJ said: “Visiting the studio was a lot of fun. We got to test a brand-new game, which was a completely new experience for me. As someone who loves gaming, trying something no one else had seen yet was really exciting. I also had the chance to ask the team what it’s like to work in a games studio and learn more about the industry.”

Richard Eaton, Games Development Lecturer added: “This partnership is invaluable. In this project, students got to test real games before release and developers gained feedback from exactly the kind of audience they’re designing for. It’s a genuine two-way collaboration. Experiences like this deepen students’ understanding of design and testing, and they can add being credited in a commercially released game to their CVs.”

Gavin Price, Founder of Playtonic Games and BSDC’s Patron of Games Design Development commented: “We are delighted to develop our partnership with BSDC, helping to create the future games designers. Creating video games is a serious business. We regularly work with students to provide real life scenarios and projects that give them an insight into the industry and how to be successful.”

To find out more information about Burton and South Derbyshire College’s Games Design and Animation course, please go to www.bsdc.ac.uk.