Media Design School to host fourth annual Girls in Games

Media Design School to host fourth annual Girls in Games

For the fourth year in a row, Media Design School will be opening its doors to female secondary school students from across New Zealand for its annual Girls in Games workshop series.

Girls in Games is best described as an immersive workshop that covers the basics of Game Development, Game Art, and Game Design.

Led by Media Design School's female faculty members with in-depth experience in commercial game development including Lucy Morris,who is an International Game Developers Association Director as well as a Game Art lecturer, Girls in Games introduces aspiring game developers to GameMaker, a programme that allows its users to create amazing cross-platform games.

Once they have completed the workshop, the participants take home the games that they have created throughout the course of the day to show off to their friends and families.

"Media Design School was the first school in New Zealand to offer game development degrees. Since then, we’ve been dedicated to supporting emerging female game developers here in Aotearoa and abroad," says Media Design School's Domestic Student Recruitment and Events Manager, Ying-yue Zhao.

"Girls in Games is a great initiative that marries three spheres of our industry – industry professionals, peers and the next generation of developers," says Morris, who has been involved with Media Design School's Girls in Games programme for two years.

"Every year, Girls in Games cultivates a safe, constructive space for young women to explore a career pathway that desperately needs their voices and diversity," highlights Morris.

In 2015, Media Design School hosted a one-day workshop for secondary students in Years 9-13, which was attended by 67 girls from 14 different colleges across the North Island.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of last year's event, Media Design School will be running two diferent Girls in Games sessions this year: one for senior students (Years 11-13) and one for junior students (Years 9-10).

The Girls in Games Senior Dev Day for Years 11-13 will be held onMonday 12 September 2016 from 8.30am at Media Design School's Auckland campus.

The Girls in Games Junior Dev Day for Years 9-10 will be held onTuesday 29 November 2016 from 8.30am at Media Design School, also at Media Design School's Auckland campus.

ENDS

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