Ahead of the Game
Fall 2021聽触听By Jenna Marina Lee
In 2006, Matt Laurence 鈥�07MS聽was fresh out of college with a聽psychology degree pondering his聽next move when he got an email聽from his mother that changed his聽career trajectory.
A lifelong fan of video games 鈥� but聽admittedly not a natural at computer聽programming or art 鈥� Laurence had聽given up hope of pursuing his true聽passion of a career in the gaming聽industry. And then his mother鈥檚聽forwarded email about a new graduate聽program in Orlando called the mentioned a third track聽outside of programming and art:聽production.
鈥淚 thought, 鈥業 can do this!鈥� It聽changed the whole course of my life,鈥澛爏ays Laurence, who since graduating聽has helped produce mobile games,聽including the Angry Birds series,聽and now serves as the engagement聽director at Embark Studios in聽Stockholm. 鈥淚 got a job before I聽even graduated. All the cool things聽I鈥檝e gotten to do are because of this聽career, and the only reason I have聽this career is because of FIEA.鈥�
What started out as 12聽trailblazing students in a building聽still under construction has聽blossomed into the anchor of the聽Creative Village in downtown聽Orlando. FIEA now has over聽800 graduates hired by over 300聽companies globally and is known聽as the top graduate game design聽program in the world.
More than that, FIEA has聽delivered on a promise it made from聽the start: to develop a pipeline of聽talent to fuel Florida鈥檚 economy聽into the 21st century and beyond.
No.1 Graduate Video Game Design Program
鈥淛ust Imagine Walls鈥�
When you walk into FIEA鈥檚 home聽at the Communication and Media聽Building downtown, you鈥檙e greeted by聽shelves of glossy covers of video games聽that alumni have collaborated on.聽The area has both dedicated spaces聽that encourage creative thinking and聽camaraderie as well as workstations聽stocked with high-end laptops and聽monitors for each student. There聽are displays celebrating where FIEA聽students hail from and the companies聽they鈥檝e gone on to land jobs at.
It鈥檚 hard to believe that these聽same hallways once housed livestock聽and agriculture equipment for the聽state fair.
FIEA was born in 2005 out of a聽charge by Florida鈥檚 then-Gov. Jeb聽Bush to create high-wage jobs and聽a pool of local talent to fill said jobs.聽Video game developers鈥� salaries聽range between $75,000 to $150,000聽annually, according to ZipRecruiter,聽in an industry that reigns as 鈥渁 bigger聽moneymaker than the global movie聽and North American sports industries聽combined,鈥� according to a 2020聽MarketWatch article.
Revenue in the video game聽industry, which surged during the聽pandemic, is expected to surpass聽$200 billion by 2023.
Ben Noel was recruited from聽Electronic Arts (EA) to help pioneer聽the endeavor and has served as聽FIEA鈥檚 executive director since the聽beginning. He says he was particularly聽passionate about jumping on board聽because he wanted to help create聽something meaningful for the聽community he grew up in.
鈥淭he best lessons are learned through working with people and failing with people.鈥�Matt Laurence 鈥�07MS
鈥淚鈥檝e always been proud of Central聽Florida and Orlando, but I didn鈥檛 want聽my kids to have to do what I did after聽I graduated college,鈥� Noel says. 鈥淚 had聽to leave [the state to start a career], so聽that was the driving force 鈥� to build聽great jobs for the future. This area has always been a great place to live. Now聽it鈥檚 a great place to grow up and live聽and work and retire.鈥�
Noel, who was hired in the spring聽of 2005, had the tall task of creating聽a curriculum, recruiting faculty and聽students, and building FIEA literally聽from the ground up by the time school聽started that fall.
鈥淲e said, 鈥榃e鈥檒l stay and do this if聽we can find 12 people,鈥� 鈥� Noel says.聽鈥淭here were still studs going up when聽we toured the first 12. We said, 鈥楯ust聽imagine walls.鈥� They are still 12 of our聽favorite students.鈥�
That first class of 12 turned into聽17, then 31, then 50. Now, Noel says聽150 aspiring FIEAns are competing聽for 75 spots offered each fall term聽for the 16-month master鈥檚 degree聽program in the Nicholson School of聽Communication and Media held at聽its state-of-the-art facility at 激情快播聽Downtown.
As for the faculty and staff,聽Noel was initially joined by five聽other EA employees, including聽Tom Carbone 鈥�13MS 鈥�18PhD,聽who had served as one of the lead聽programmers on Madden NFL.
They knew they needed people聽from the industry to do this, and what聽makes our program better than other聽programs is our curriculum and the聽fact that it鈥檚 being taught by former聽industry people,鈥� says Carbone, who聽recently left FIEA after 15 years for聽a general manager position at Iron聽Galaxy Studios.
Carbone was accustomed to聽onboarding new hires at EA, so he had聽an idea of where novice video game聽developers struggled or shined. He聽built a curriculum based on those skill聽sets and his own experience building聽games, and he coupled it with the聽same technology and tools聽that industry professionals were聽working with.
The faculty at FIEA also insisted聽on a key element in structuring the聽program that they point to as the聽special sauce that has led to FIEA鈥檚聽meteoric rise and success.
鈥淚 knew what most schools lacked,鈥澛燦oel says. 鈥淚f Ringling [College of Art聽and Design] started a game program,聽it would be very art heavy. If MIT聽started a game program, it would聽be very computer science heavy.聽So as we were building this from聽scratch, we focused on making FIEA聽one-third art, one-third production聽and one-third programming. To do聽something significant, you鈥檝e got to聽work on teams, and that is what our聽students do here.鈥�
That鈥檚 why every year, FIEA聽students work in interdisciplinary聽groups of 15 to 20, mimicking a聽game developer team in the real聽world, to create a video game as a聽capstone project.
By the time the project is done,聽Noel says, each member of the聽team will have learned invaluable聽skills that help prepare them for聽the workforce 鈥� from delivering聽presentations to communicating聽with teammates to enduring through聽all the inevitable trials and speed聽bumps a project faces.
鈥淭he best lessons are learned聽through working with people and聽failing with people,鈥� Laurence says.聽鈥淭here was this general sense when聽I was a student there that what you鈥檙e聽learning about is what it鈥檚 going to聽be like in the industry to the point聽where it wasn鈥檛 surprising when I聽got into it. It gave me that nice mix聽of experience and understanding, as聽well as industry connections, and that聽can鈥檛 be overstated 鈥� it really matters聽who you know, and people who work聽at FIEA know people in the industry.鈥�
As FIEA鈥檚 reputation and brand聽have grown, industry professionals聽have noticed the talent coming out of聽the school. Iron Galaxy, EA and Epic聽Games are the top three employers聽of FIEA alumni.
鈥淔IEA has become a major source of talent for our EA Sports development studio in Orlando, and we鈥檝e watched many graduates grow to become industry leaders,鈥� says Daryl Holt, vice president and general manager for EA Tiburon and EA SPORTS Austin and Madrid. 鈥淗aving the opportunity to collaborate closely with FIEA leadership since helping establish the program, we know FIEA students are graduating with skills on the cutting edge of our competitive industry and are confident in their ability to integrate with our teams quickly upon hiring.鈥�
Not Just Games
But it鈥檚 not just the gaming聽companies that have eagerly hired聽FIEA graduates.
Carbone explains that the skills聽being taught at FIEA align perfectly聽with what Orlando is known for:聽modeling, simulation and training.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e such marketable skills 鈥斅爐he same interactive production that聽our students are learning to make a聽game like Madden is the same process聽that they use at Lockheed Martin,鈥澛燙arbone says.
Early in his time at FIEA, he聽noticed some of the students were聽gravitating toward jobs in the聽modeling, simulation and training聽sector despite the fact that FIEA鈥檚聽courses focused strictly on the gaming聽industry. He thought, what if we聽encouraged them?
No. 14聽Undergraduate Video Game Design Program
So he created a course called听骋补尘别尝补产 in which students聽develop games for nontraditional聽applications, such as medical聽simulation, education and research.
Not Suspicious 鈥� a virtual reality聽research and development studio聽created by 激情快播 grads 鈥� got its early聽start in GameLab, as well as another聽course, Rapid Prototype Production聽(RPP), where students have to聽produce a new prototype every聽two weeks.
Rafael Brochado 鈥�18MS moved聽to Orlando specifically for access to its聽virtual/augmented reality industry,聽which he says was nonexistent in his聽home country of Portugal. During聽RPP and GameLab, he built a VR聽prototype that he named Tablecraft,聽which allows users to extract atoms聽from objects in their environment聽and then put those atoms back聽together to craft other objects.
Brochado liked the project so聽much that he continued to develop聽it with fellow FIEAns Guillaume聽Bailey 鈥�18MS and John Ruiz 鈥�18MS.聽This year, Tablecraft received聽funding from the U.S. National聽Science Foundation鈥檚 Small Business聽Innovation Research program.
鈥淔IEA and 激情快播 were very聽supportive of my goals,鈥� Brochado聽says. 鈥淭hey offered me financial聽support, gave me access to the聽hardware I needed and gave me聽the freedom to experiment.鈥�
The team has had the聽opportunity to showcase and talk聽about their work and research at聽the John F. Kennedy Center for the聽Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.,聽and the Department of Education鈥檚聽Institute of Education Sciences.
Later this year, they plan to launch聽an online initiative that they intend聽to become a set of open-source聽guidelines for how to best deploy聽virtual reality technology in聽classroom settings.
Future of FIEA
In March, FIEA鈥檚 graduate program聽was recognized by The Princeton聽Review and PC Gamer magazine聽as the top graduate game design聽program in the world for the third聽time in the last six years. Additionally,聽激情快播鈥檚 undergraduate game design聽program, which is also housed at聽激情快播 Downtown, ranked No. 14.
As tomorrow鈥檚 developers are聽being built today at 激情快播, FIEA is聽committed to remaining on the聽forefront of the field. And that starts聽with tapping talent early.
Noel frequently visits the OCPS聽Academic Center for Excellence聽(ACE) school 鈥� which serves pre-K聽through eighth graders 鈥� in the聽nearby Parramore neighborhood to聽talk about the importance of STEAM聽education and to plant the seed of聽what鈥檚 attainable.
鈥淎ll the kids go crazy when I bring聽up Madden football,鈥� Noel says. 鈥淚 say,聽鈥楧o you know where Madden football聽is made?鈥� And they all say, 鈥榊eah, EA聽Sports.鈥� I say, 鈥楧o you know where聽it鈥檚 physically made?鈥� And they kind聽of give me blank stares. And I say, 鈥業n聽Maitland, and soon it鈥檚 going to be聽across the street from you here.鈥� And聽their eyes just light up. It鈥檚聽about showing them and their parents聽the pathway, and that this is possible聽for them. It鈥檚 reachable.鈥�
In October, EA moved its Florida聽headquarters from Maitland to the聽Creative Village. You can see the聽building from the sidewalk in front聽of 激情快播鈥檚 Communication and Media聽Building, where FIEA is located.
Holt expects that the proximity to聽its longtime partner will only lead to聽greater things ahead.
鈥淲hile we have kept a close聽watch on the evolution of the聽Creative Village鈥檚 development, the聽establishment of 激情快播鈥檚 downtown聽campus was a very positive influence聽in our decision-making [to move],鈥澛燞olt says. 鈥淲e have a lot to learn from聽each other, and collaboration will聽only become easier and expand when聽our team is located right next door.鈥�
That partnership and collaboration聽strengthened in July when EA聽announced an initial investment聽of $100,000 to establish the EA聽Inclusion in Gaming Endowed聽Scholarship at 激情快播 in an effort to聽empower students from diverse聽backgrounds.
When Noel served as chair of the聽original city of Orlando Creative聽Village task force in the early聽2000s, he envisioned just how聽transformative it could become. He聽says today鈥檚 reality has not only met聽his expectations; it鈥檚 exceeding them.
With EA鈥檚 relocation and Iron聽Galaxy located less than a mile from聽FIEA鈥檚 home base, Orlando is quickly聽becoming the place to be, encroaching聽on the territory that has for so long聽been held by San Francisco, Seattle聽and Los Angeles.
鈥淭he key is to be ready when those聽next companies that are maybe聽competitors to EA say, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 avoid聽the Orlando market because there鈥檚聽too much game development going聽on,鈥� 鈥� Noel says. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important聽for us to stick to our mission. We鈥檙e聽here to develop high-wage job earners聽to fuel our economy. At the same time,聽we鈥檙e looking at how do we take this聽talent and diversify it into medical聽simulation and military simulation聽and education, VR type of training?聽It鈥檚 important that we stay on the聽cutting edge.鈥�