Israeli mobile developer Playtika has announced on a recent LinkedIn post that they will be collaborating with local universities to help offer games industry related courses. The studio will partner with Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) and The Academic College of Tel-Aviv, Yaffo. This will have them hosting two new courses in collaboration with Playtika.
Reichman University will feature Gaming101, Business Models in Gaming, Regulation and Gaming, Relevant Technologies in Gaming and others. Whilst The Academic College of Tel-Aviv will feature Business Intelligence Principles in Gaming. As for what Playtika will bring to the table the announcement says “As part of this collaboration, mentors and speakers from Playtika will assist the students, hold challenges and give feedback – and the students will get a chance at a career opportunity with Playtika.”
Gaming experience
Whilst gaming courses have historically been well received by students, one of the most valuable things as with any hands-on course is to get experience and information from dedicated professionals in that field. By lecturing about their own experience as developers, the representatives from Playtika will help students get an insider’s view and not just theoretical knowledge about the industry.
In a field as competitive and reliant on expertise as game development, having a leg up on the competition can be as simple as just knowing some of the basics and being able to anticipate the twists and turns daily work can bring. For Playtika as well, it feeds into positive PR of them supporting the next generation of game developers and educators as a whole.
Although Playtika has seen trouble last week, with announcements of mass layoffs, it looks as if the studio isn’t stepping back from other projects, such as this education collaboration with established universities. It also further cements the developer’s Israeli roots.
