Interview with the HSE about the training program in the direction of "game development"

One of the structural divisions of the Higher School of Economics has been recruiting students for the second time for a professional retraining program in the direction of “game development”. We asked the producer of the program Vyacheslav Utochkin about this initiative.

The first question is: what does “professional development program” mean in this context? Is that just the name of the HSE courses, or is it something more official? And if it is official, then how is it possible, because within the framework of the educational program, professional development presupposes the presence of basic education within the framework of the discipline under discussion.

Vyacheslav Utochkin
The professional retraining program is developed and approved at the university, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education.

The program can be attended by people who already have a higher education, as well as master’s or 4th year bachelor’s students.  The education profile doesn’t matter. The format of the professional retraining program, its content and teaching methods suggest the possibility of training people with practical experience in this field, as well as those who are just planning their career.

The training program includes a mandatory procedure for the preparation and defense of the final work and obtaining a diploma of the established sample of the Higher School of Economics on professional retraining.

Since the course is held for the second year in a row, it is reasonable to ask about the results of the previous one. What was taught, who taught, how many students were there and how did it all end for them?

They taught game design, monetization, writing design documentation, technical basics of development, marketing and PR – almost everything that this year. However, this year’s program is different from the previous one. We have removed all disciplines that have a rather indirect relation to computer and mobile games. When developing the previous program, we wanted to give a comprehensive education, including deeper knowledge from financial management to project management. Following the results of the training, we realized that it was impossible to cover everything in one year, and focused on the development and operation of game projects. This year, a production-related subject has been added, which I will be reading. I used to produce games like PerfectWorld and Armored Warfare.

The changes in the teaching staff do not end there. This year, Sergey Lidovsky, Head of the legal service of GaijinEntertainment, is reading copyright and contract law here.

The learning outcomes were different. One of the listeners was hired at Mail.RuGroup as a game designer. The three gathered in a group to develop a client game, which became the basis not only for a graduation project, but also for a startup that goes beyond training. Another student who successfully defended his diploma has a working startup – his own browser game.

This year, as far as we know, two programs are being launched: “practice of monetization of online games” and “management of online gaming projects”. Please tell us about them: who leads, what will they be about, who are they designed for?

The program “Management of Internet gaming projects” is a program that we taught students last year. It has been significantly optimized taking into account the experience of the past year and feedback from listeners. This year we are planning the program in such a way as to give students a complete understanding of both the development and operation of game projects. And the main thing is to make sure that they can effectively work as a game designer or producer in a gaming company, or successfully make their own computer or mobile game.

Leading specialists of companies with many years of experience in developing computer and mobile games, as well as working in the near-gaming industry, are invited to teach. Including Dmitry Burkovsky, Vice President of Xsolla, Head of the Monetization and Billing Department Mail.Ru Games Alexey Filatov, Managing Partner of Brandcraft PR Agency Nikolay Borzov, the most experienced game designers Konstantin Sakhnov and Dmitry Tabakov, who are currently working at Mail.Ru is working on the largest mobile projects of the Evolution universe and the Armored Warfare client project, respectively, as well as having extensive experience working on other projects, including their own. And many other teachers, you can find out more about them on the program page.

The program itself will last 8 months, starting from the beautiful date 11.11.2015. Classes will be conveniently distributed in the evenings on two weekdays and on Saturday in the morning. In total, as a result, more than 300 classroom hours are planned, as well as independent work and work with the head on the diploma.

Also in October, as you mentioned, we are doing a six–day refresher course on our favorite topic – the practice of monetization of online games.

According to the format, these are completely different courses. Practice is a six-day intensive, and game project management is almost a year-long course. Why was it necessary to implement the practice at all, why, for example, did they not launch a full-fledged program on this topic?

Initially, we did not plan to open the “Practice of monetization of online games”. But we often got questions about whether it was possible to listen only to game design and monetization. These materials turned out to be in great demand, and working people often cannot allocate time for 8-month training. As a result, we have developed an intensive course that talks about the game economy and monetization at the development stage. Its materials partially overlap with the main program, but there are also significant differences. We have also received requests to organize short courses on marketing and game production. But since this format is new to us, we decided to run it on one topic, and expand it only if such a course is successful. We do not exclude that other intensive courses will appear in the future. According to the results of such courses, students pass a test for obtaining a certificate of advanced training of the Higher School of Economics.

And the last question: HSE has campuses not only in Moscow, but also in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Perm. Are you planning to launch a professional development program there?

We do not rule out expanding the program to other regions. The first step in this direction should be the appearance of an online version, which is already being worked on. We want students from all over Russia and the post-Soviet states to have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education in the gaming industry. This is a lot of work and we should not expect a mass launch of evening programs in the regions in the coming years. It takes time for the current program in Moscow to become more mature and produce more than one stream of specialists. While this process is underway, other cities will not be ignored. We have some hopes that the online program will help in this situation. However, this format is new to us, and it is premature to predict its success or failure.

Thanks for the interview.