1. Yoni Dayan

2. Reminder of the stakeholder and the problem he is facing The stakeholder is an American soon-to-be graduate from a famous video game high school, passionate by the industry. He hopes to seize his dream job through an active search thanks to his degree. But no positive results thus far and he suffers from a clear inadequacy between what the he was waiting from the school, what the school provided (in terms of knowledge, mindset, internships and realizations) and the videogame market. There is a problem in the “bridge” between this video game school (and many others are in a similar case) and the concrete job market/the industry. The school isn’t suited for the job market with its theoretical courses and lack of links with the real world. We will try to bring solutions to this issue, which will benefit the stakeholder as he isn’t out of the school system yet. These ideas are organized per theme. Most of them can be applied to freshly graduated students who haven’t secured a job in the industry. The stakeholder is an American soon-to-be graduate from a famous video game high school, passionate by the industry. He hopes to seize his dream job through an active search thanks to his degree. But no positive results thus far and he suffers from a clear inadequacy between what the he was waiting from the school, what the school provided (in terms of knowledge, mindset, internships and realizations) and the videogame market. There is a problem in the “bridge” between this video game school (and many others are in a similar case) and the concrete job market/the industry. The school isn’t suited for the job market with its theoretical courses and lack of links with the real world. We will try to bring solutions to this issue, which will benefit the stakeholder as he isn’t out of the school system yet. These ideas are organized per theme. Most of them can be applied to freshly graduated students who haven’t secured a job in the industry.

3. How to make the transition « videogame school > industry » a success for soon- to-be or fresh graduates Binding the training to the job market from day 1 Put the emphasis on the demonstration of the students’ skills More ambitious pet projects as showcases of the students Teach graduates how to “sell” themselves to recruiters “Blue Sky” ideas Build a placement and a “follow up” task force Encourage students and graduates to become entrepreneurs and start their own studio Transform the graduates into proactive individuals

4. STEP 1: IDEAS Binding the training to the job market from day 1 - Internships from the very first year of the training and not only at the last - Those internships shouldn’t be a few days or weeks long, at the end of the year, but be an integrated part of the degree, taking more than half of the last year for example. The professors could monitor their students from distance through internet. - Find “mentors”, working professionals from the industry, who will accompany each student individually. - Establishing privileged relations between the school and several videogame companies (through sponsoring, etc), and pushing those companies to consider the school as a “pool of future talent to recruit” (through the monitoring of student results, projects, interviews inside the school) - Organize visits to studios Put the emphasis on the demonstration of the students’ skills - “portfolio project”, consisting of having to build and hone one throughout all the 2 to 5 years of the school programs - 50% of the evaluation (if the student get his diploma or not) should be the grading of the portfolio More ambitious pet projects as showcases of the students - Giving students more freedom in the choice of their pet projects to stir up their interest for them - More ambitions pet projects, especially in the last years, with more resources and time for them. - Those student school projects should be tied to the industry: videogame companies could outsource some of their development through those projects (imagine an art student wanting to do 2D artworks of fantasy worlds, and a big video game brand is in need of such materials for its new title) - Organize competitions between the pet projects and give them a wide promotion, with as a rewards several jobs in the industry. Those who haven’t won will still benefit from this promotion. Binding the training to the job market from day 1 - Internships from the very first year of the training and not only at the last - Those internships shouldn’t be a few days or weeks long, at the end of the year, but be an integrated part of the degree, taking more than half of the last year for example. The professors could monitor their students from distance through internet. - Find “mentors”, working professionals from the industry, who will accompany each student individually. - Establishing privileged relations between the school and several videogame companies (through sponsoring, etc), and pushing those companies to consider the school as a “pool of future talent to recruit” (through the monitoring of student results, projects, interviews inside the school) - Organize visits to studios Put the emphasis on the demonstration of the students’ skills - “portfolio project”, consisting of having to build and hone one throughout all the 2 to 5 years of the school programs - 50% of the evaluation (if the student get his diploma or not) should be the grading of the portfolio More ambitious pet projects as showcases of the students - Giving students more freedom in the choice of their pet projects to stir up their interest for them - More ambitions pet projects, especially in the last years, with more resources and time for them. - Those student school projects should be tied to the industry: videogame companies could outsource some of their development through those projects (imagine an art student wanting to do 2D artworks of fantasy worlds, and a big video game brand is in need of such materials for its new title) - Organize competitions between the pet projects and give them a wide promotion, with as a rewards several jobs in the industry. Those who haven’t won will still benefit from this promotion.

5. Teach students and freshly graduated ones how to “sell” themselves to recruiters - Implement courses on CV building - Courses and practices on traditional interview - Courses and practices on communication, public speaking Transform the soon-to-be and fresh graduates into proactive individuals in their behavior - Group and individual coaching on how to network - Courses on how to enter in contact with people from the industry they don’t know Encourage students and fresh graduates to become entrepreneurs and start their own studio - Courses on how to create their own company - Courses on how to do businesses plan then business development, recruiting, etc. - Internal networking between students/former students with complementary skills yet shared passions and interests (“those two students are fascinated by games specialized in planes, we should make them meet each other”) - Accompany them in the early stage of the creation of their own company - Push them to develop a fully-fledged game with their studio, and it would count as the main part of their grade - Network their company with the industry. Big publishers could acquire them, recruit them, etc. Teach students and freshly graduated ones how to “sell” themselves to recruiters - Implement courses on CV building - Courses and practices on traditional interview - Courses and practices on communication, public speaking Transform the soon-to-be and fresh graduates into proactive individuals in their behavior - Group and individual coaching on how to network - Courses on how to enter in contact with people from the industry they don’t know Encourage students and fresh graduates to become entrepreneurs and start their own studio - Courses on how to create their own company - Courses on how to do businesses plan then business development, recruiting, etc. - Internal networking between students/former students with complementary skills yet shared passions and interests (“those two students are fascinated by games specialized in planes, we should make them meet each other”) - Accompany them in the early stage of the creation of their own company - Push them to develop a fully-fledged game with their studio, and it would count as the main part of their grade - Network their company with the industry. Big publishers could acquire them, recruit them, etc.

6. Build a placement and a “follow up” task force - Considerably strengthen the placement office within the school with Human Resources experts that will place the soon or freshly graduated students in companies. - Assign a professor from the school to follow up the freshly graduated student at least a whole year after its graduation - Organize regular alumni reunions to encourage networking between the graduated, in case a former student is in need to hire someone for its studio, and another student with the relevant skills is unemployed. “Blue Sky” ideas - Displace the school inside a videogame company building to root the training in the work reality (concretely, the school could rent a part of the open spaces or rooms for their students to study there, exchange with the employees during the pauses, etc.) - Completely change the paradigm of videogames schools from theoretical courses that must be attended to physically and a few internships, to a powerful combination of e- learning and real work (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below) - Sign contracts with big publishers that are producing hundreds of titles per year, to subcontract to students and former students their less ambitious titles. (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below) Build a placement and a “follow up” task force - Considerably strengthen the placement office within the school with Human Resources experts that will place the soon or freshly graduated students in companies. - Assign a professor from the school to follow up the freshly graduated student at least a whole year after its graduation - Organize regular alumni reunions to encourage networking between the graduated, in case a former student is in need to hire someone for its studio, and another student with the relevant skills is unemployed. “Blue Sky” ideas - Displace the school inside a videogame company building to root the training in the work reality (concretely, the school could rent a part of the open spaces or rooms for their students to study there, exchange with the employees during the pauses, etc.) - Completely change the paradigm of videogames schools from theoretical courses that must be attended to physically and a few internships, to a powerful combination of e- learning and real work (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below) - Sign contracts with big publishers that are producing hundreds of titles per year, to subcontract to students and former students their less ambitious titles. (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below)

7. STEP 2: IDEA SELECTION 1) The most practical idea (one that could be easily implemented) - Accompany the students in the early stage of the creation of their own company With the evolution of the videogame industry, featuring a lot of independent studios made of less than 10 employees, the exponential growth of mobile gaming, and other parameters, NOW is the time to create its own studio. This idea is the most practical and the best, as it will encourage students (and former ones who are graduated since, we could say, less than two years) to gather their complementary skills and talent, to create their own company, publish their first game and make a living from their passion. The school will have to provide them a real accompanying structure, some sort of “accelerator for seed stage videogame studio”. 2) The most disruptive idea - Sign contracts with big publishers that are producing hundreds of titles per year, to subcontract to students and former students their less ambitious titles. We all know that in the videogame industry, there are a multitude of “filler games” that are primarily designed to make money, especially for mobile platforms. With this idea, instead of giving already trained and skilled employees these games to develop (which is decreasing their passion for the industry), they will be assigned to students (or former students who are unemployed) who, before even having their degree, could be proud of having already released a proper game. Considering the fact that videogames are an art as well as an industry where there weren’t specialized education until recently, where countless self-taught individuals managed (and still manage) to succeed and also where the emphasis is put on the realization, this idea is disruptive yet powerful. 1) The most practical idea (one that could be easily implemented) - Accompany the students in the early stage of the creation of their own company With the evolution of the videogame industry, featuring a lot of independent studios made of less than 10 employees, the exponential growth of mobile gaming, and other parameters, NOW is the time to create its own studio. This idea is the most practical and the best, as it will encourage students (and former ones who are graduated since, we could say, less than two years) to gather their complementary skills and talent, to create their own company, publish their first game and make a living from their passion. The school will have to provide them a real accompanying structure, some sort of “accelerator for seed stage videogame studio”. 2) The most disruptive idea - Sign contracts with big publishers that are producing hundreds of titles per year, to subcontract to students and former students their less ambitious titles. We all know that in the videogame industry, there are a multitude of “filler games” that are primarily designed to make money, especially for mobile platforms. With this idea, instead of giving already trained and skilled employees these games to develop (which is decreasing their passion for the industry), they will be assigned to students (or former students who are unemployed) who, before even having their degree, could be proud of having already released a proper game. Considering the fact that videogames are an art as well as an industry where there weren’t specialized education until recently, where countless self-taught individuals managed (and still manage) to succeed and also where the emphasis is put on the realization, this idea is disruptive yet powerful.

8. 3) Your favorite idea (one idea that you are excited about for whatever reason... you don’t have to justify why) - Completely change the paradigm of videogames schools from theoretical courses that must be attended to physically and a few internships, to a powerful combination of e- learning and real work. (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below) With this idea, the traditional courses will be taught from distance, giving more flexibility to the students. But they will have from day 1 to literally work within the industry through low- end internships at first then climb the more they gain knowledge and above all experiences. Concretely, put the companies at the center of the videogame educational framework, and the school will take a backseat. 3) Your favorite idea (one idea that you are excited about for whatever reason... you don’t have to justify why) - Completely change the paradigm of videogames schools from theoretical courses that must be attended to physically and a few internships, to a powerful combination of e- learning and real work. (see more explanations on the Idea Selection part below) With this idea, the traditional courses will be taught from distance, giving more flexibility to the students. But they will have from day 1 to literally work within the industry through low- end internships at first then climb the more they gain knowledge and above all experiences. Concretely, put the companies at the center of the videogame educational framework, and the school will take a backseat.