Most industries offer internship programs to help transition potential employees from sitting in a classroom to earning a paycheck, and the gaming industry is no exception.
While ArenaNet has offered a type of internship program within the gaming industry since 2010, they've recently progressed into new territory with their Arena University. ArenaNet's SVP of global business, Randall Price, spent some time chatting with Gamasutra about the program, detailing how it prepares graduates for the real world.
Participants in Arena University work with the goal of seeing their art in game; for example, some of the bits and pieces in today's Lion's Arch flythrough video came straight from Arena University. The purpose of the program, according to Randall, is much more than just offering a few college credits. The ArenaNet staffers who work with the interns keep a eye toward teaching their interns not only game design, but also office workflow, communication, and creation as it applies to current projects.
Reader Comments (4)
Posted: May 11th 2011 10:47PM Yoh said
This.... this makes me grin from ear to ear.
Given that I'm already a student in FuturePoly, it is exceedingly likely Arena University will feed into that somehow. (from what I understand, it does so far as the offline courses go, and I think their working on the logistics of the online classes.... I'll have to ask Stokes.)
It's the kind of thing that will make me want to work that much harder, seeing the path is lite for me.
(for some reason this is having a hard time uploading)
~Yoh
Given that I'm already a student in FuturePoly, it is exceedingly likely Arena University will feed into that somehow. (from what I understand, it does so far as the offline courses go, and I think their working on the logistics of the online classes.... I'll have to ask Stokes.)
It's the kind of thing that will make me want to work that much harder, seeing the path is lite for me.
(for some reason this is having a hard time uploading)
~Yoh
Posted: May 11th 2011 11:11PM icediceslice said
This is great news for me, been applying at firaxis and bethesda for ages now...but to see anet get in the flow. This IS really great...and just wondering...Rubi if you read this...when is the next guildcast...I'm checking my feed every day and it's still at ep.44...what gives
long live anet
long live anet
Posted: May 12th 2011 9:52AM 10thDoctor said
@icediceslice
If you listened to ep. 44 you will remember Shawn saying that he is extremely busy in RL (moving, planning a wedding, job creating a path of study for a local university) and that Guildcasts would not be happening as often, or with any real regularity.
Good luck Shawn! Hope that 4-6 hours of sleep a night is doing it for you. ;)
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If you listened to ep. 44 you will remember Shawn saying that he is extremely busy in RL (moving, planning a wedding, job creating a path of study for a local university) and that Guildcasts would not be happening as often, or with any real regularity.
Good luck Shawn! Hope that 4-6 hours of sleep a night is doing it for you. ;)
Posted: May 14th 2011 12:36AM icediceslice said
@10thDoctor thanks man...I was drifting in and out of 44...playing guild wars at the same time...thanks though :D
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