Explore Careers in Gaming and Improved Educational Outcomes

If you hadn’t noticed, gaming is quite popular and there is growing opportunity to take it to the next stage and pursue a career in the industry.

In October as part of Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW) the inaugural Games Education Symposium, a free 2-day event, will bring students, educators and industry professionals together to learn how digital games are improving educational outcomes in schools and explore the diverse career opportunities in gaming.

Day One of the symposium will connect secondary students and teachers with industry professionals to showcase the array of career opportunities in the digital games industry.

George Osborn, a leading expert in the intersection between video games and the wider world, will deliver a keynote on the use of games for social good and the unseen ways that video games influence the modern world: from US presidential elections to competition law to the fight against the climate crisis.

A roundtable mentoring session will see game designers and developers at various stages of their careers share their professional journeys and the ‘things they wish they knew in high school’ with those looking to enter the industry.

The Day Two program will connect games studios and developers with tertiary institutes to look to the future of games. The Great Debate: Working in Games is Not a Real Job will see industry speakers in a healthy debate and a live feed link-up with a parallel conference in Denmark will address global trends in games education.

International keynote speaker Dries Deryckere, from Howest University (Belgium), will delve into creating the developer of the future: How do you train for a job that doesn't exist? A key highlight of day two is the Tertiary Hackathon, where tertiary students will harness the spirit of ‘games for good’ to develop positive solutions to real world challenges.

The Games Education Symposium an extension of MIGW’s goal to foster connections between games enthusiasts and developers, and between the games industry and a wide range of other sectors. It will take place on 3-4 October as part of Melbourne International Games Week.