If you’re reading this, the chances are fairly high that you play games. If so, Game Academy is looking for your help.
If you – or any of your friends / family are:
- 24- 40 year olds (or a few years either side)
- Without a qualification at degree level
- Currently working/furloughed
- Play 6hrs+ of the following type of games: Civilisation, Zelda, Fortnite, Minecraft, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Witcher, Football Manager, Skyrim, Stardew Valley, Fallout, or World of WarCraft
- Mainly PC players
Gamers Wanted
If this applies to you (or someone you know), then Game Academy would like five minutes of your time to help their new approach to finding a job (details below).
Games are commonly written off as a waste of time, with no application to the real world. Unless of course you come from the Jack Thomson school of thought, which says that games are murder simulators and the incidence of vehicle lerceny is directly related to sales of Grand Theft Auto.
However, many of the ‘soft skills’ which help players succeed in games, are also those being sought by employers worldwide.
For example:
“The ability to assimilate information, react swiftly and co-ordinate actions whilst remaining calm under pressure are often attributes of people that are good at gaming,” a Royal Air Force spokesperson told the BBC.
Those skills are part of what the RAF is looking for “in a variety of roles”.
“Skills acquired through gaming can be very relevant to certain areas.”
According to co-founder David Barrie, Game Academy, is “a new tech venture devised to enable players of video games to maximise and capitalise upon their in-game talent out-of-game.”
Specifically, this is about turning the skills you utilise within games, into an asset you can include on your CV. We’re not talking about head shots, kill rates, or goal-scoring ability, but teamwork, communication, cooperation, and creative problem-solving.
According to Barrie:
Take a closer look at the skills of the future, forecast by the likes of the World Economic Forum, McKinsey and Nesta, and video games fast turn into an extraordinary harbour of hidden talent. Strategy games like Civilization, Into the Breach and XCOM2 are great at encouraging the understanding of processes. First person shooter and multiplayer online battle games like Call of Duty and Dota 2 are great at encouraging teamwork. There are many other correlations, not least between games and ‘meta-skills’ — general and reusable skills which either apply broadly to a wide set of problems, or help you acquire other more specific skills.
With Game Academy, we are developing a suite of software tools that will allow game players to analyse and understand their in-game achievement, apply that talent to learn new skills using the games that they love and then connect them to technical education, industry-specific training or directly into work. Games and gaming as a passport to success.
Further Reading
If you’re interested in finding out more about Game Academy and the idea that gaming skills are transferrable, the BBC wrote an excellent and in-depth article on the issue (including a quote from Glasgow University’s Dr Matt Barr).
If you fit the criteria listed above, Game Academy would like a word with you.
Contact helenspencer@me.com and tell them SGN sent you.
You can find Game Academy here.