First group of students graduate from Sudbury college’s game design program

Two years ago, Sudbury’s Cambrian College announced it was going to offer a game design program.

Now, the first students in that program are set to graduate and enter what has become a booming industry.

After two years of hard work, they’re getting ready to graduate, and they will be the first students ever to earn a diploma from the new program, drawn to it through a shared love of gaming.

“I’ve been playing games my whole life. I always had a passion to create,” said game design student Michael Russell.

“Initially it was a need to find a job that I could work from home with,” said another student, Julien Boulard.

“Something I really enjoyed and I really enjoyed playing video games. They kind of went hand in hand.”

“They always helped me escape reality for a few minutes, well for me it’s a few hours, but if I could do that for someone else, that would make my life complete,” added student Josiah Soares.

Students’ final quest was to create a game using the skills they’ve learned to show future employers.

Prof. Aaron Langille describes the two years as an adventure, almost like a video game itself. He said the game design program is geared to be broad to account for the endless opportunities in the booming industry.

“Our hope is that they’re all working in video games directly at some level, whether they’re working independently and working on their own, whether they work with a small studio, whether they’re working in the bigger studios in Canada and beyond,” Langille said.

“There are other opportunities, as well -- anything to do with AR or VR, a lot of things with education. The variety of careers is fairly large.”

Langille said there’s been a high level of interest in this program.

With the number of graduates about to enter the workforce, he hopes this program will fuel growth in the north and the gaming industry as a whole.