Game On with Ndemic Designer

Game On with Ndemic Designer

This week, our Game Art degree students welcomed Matt Westlake, Senior Game Designer at Ndemic Creations, to the Tobacco Factory to share his journey into the games industry.

Ndemic Creations is a globally renowned, independent game studio, based in Bristol. The studio’s debut release, Plague Inc., won global acclaim and has attracted over 180 million players. It’s now one of the top five most successful mobile games of all time.

During the visit, Matt described his role at Ndemic Creations and how he got there, while offering valuable perspectives on industry processes and emerging trends. He also took the time to give individual feedback to students on a range of work, including character creation, environment art and game prototypes.

Students gained valuable insights from the session, with Harvey Mason (Game Art, Year 2) commenting:

"I found Matt’s extensive knowledge of the industry to be equally refreshing and informative. He’s inspired me to reach out to employers and pursue a career in games."

Matt’s visit coincides with the validation of our BA (Hons) Game Design and Production programme, set to start in September 2024. In combination with BA (Hons) Game Art, this course will extend boomsatsuma’s digital creative training provision.

Dr Lee Scott, Deputy Dean and Game Designer said:

"Industry insight is at the core of what we do at boomsatsuma and games is no exception. Having inspirational talent like Matt talk to students about the realities and nuances of working in the games industry is so important in helping them develop into adaptable and versatile game professionals."

Our new courses in Game Art and Game Design and Production are open for applications. Check out our Degrees page for more information.

Pictured: Matt Westlake (left), Dr Lee Scott (right)