Auckland’s Media Design School (MDS) expects its students to be producing PlayStation games by the end of this year now it’s offering the PlayStation First Academic Development programme.
The new partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe means MDS is the only tertiary institute in New Zealand to give students the chance to develop for PlayStation.
MDS will get tools, incubation labs and connections with top global game companies under the partnership, with students able to publish their games to the global PlayStation network.
The collaboration is a Kiwi first and one of only two like it in Australasia, says Sony Computer Entertainment Zealand director of sales and marketing David Hine.
“There is some serious talent in this country and we think PlayStation®First is a perfect way to develop [the students’]abilities as the next generation of game developers,” says Hine.
Media Design School will integrate PlayStation into its curriculum. “We can expect to see some incredible new games realised by the end of this year,” says Paul Morris, Media Design School’s head of game programming.
Head of Kiwi publisher Pik Pok, Mario Wynands, saw the partnership as a chance for the wider local games industry to offer New Zealand-produced content to the global market via PlayStation platforms.
This post originally appeared on the Idealog website.