Epic Games and Staffordshire University partner to form the Epic Games Centre

Epic Games has announced a partnership with Staffordshire University to form the Epic Games Centre, a fully equipped space for students enrolled in the university’s games design courses.

The agreement also enables a close collaboration between Epic, the university's faculty and its game design students.

Staffordshire offers eight courses in games design and just under 500 students have signed up for the courses at present.

“There’s a lot of talk about the need for the industry to get more involved with the academic process and have a greater input into how games design is taught," said Mike Gamble, Epic's European Territory Manager.

"This collaboration will enable Staffs students to have a direct link with Epic and a direct line to the heart of the industry. In turn, Epic and its developer partners will have access to these world-class facilities along with a new generation of game makers totally immersed within the world of Unreal Engine technology."

“We have many great courses here at Staffs but this partnership will give our students a deeper understanding of how theory is put into practice and a greater understanding of the commercial complexities of the development process," commented the university's Dr. Bobbie Fletcher. "We’ve no doubt that this collaboration will make our courses more attractive to potential students and provide us all with a new dimension of awareness about how the industry works and evolves."

The partnership is currently set for two years, during which timne Epic will provide hardware, teaching time and access to software and key personnel.

The Epic Games Centre will also host Epic Developer Days for professional Unreal Engine users with the first event scheduled for spring.