RUBIKA and IÉSEG: an example of a successful collaboration between students from a video game school and a business school
04/15/2021
The 5-year RUBIKA Video Game programme is aimed at students wishing to enter the industry. In the 4th year, students focus on the production and publication of a video game in teams. When the game is finished, it is put online on Steam, the video game distribution platform.
RUBIKA students aim to produce games that are both creative and playable, and which stand out from the thousands of others featured on the platform. By collaborating with IÉSEG students in their 4th year, they benefit from their ‘business’ knowledge so that their games are promoted on Steam more effectively.
RUBIKA – IÉSEG, a collaboration that benefits everyone
On the one hand, creative students, on the other hand, young people trained in management and entrepreneurship: by working together, they share their skills in order to create and promote video games. For 4 months, about 9 or 10 RUBIKA students work closely with 2 students from IÉSEG, a situation that benefits all parties. The RUBIKA students become familiar with marketing, communication and finance, and the IÉSEG students take part in a creative experience that requires them to master numerous software programs as well as programming and writing skills. The fact that the students get together at least once a week has allowed for a steady flow of new ideas.
With more than 62 million active players per day in 2020, and the possibility to charge people when they download a game, the financial stakes regarding distribution on the leading video game platform Steam can be very high. For example, some student games can bring in up to 10,000 euros, which is then donated to student associations.
This initiative is a first between a video game school and a business school and the enthusiasm of the students shows that there is a thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn new skills.
Two juries to reward the best games and business plans
The technical presentations of the projects (January, 25 at RUBIKA) and the business presentations (March, 22 at IÉSEG) confirmed this enthusiasm. A professional investor from the video game sector participating in the IÉSEG ‘business’ jury even contacted the students directly after the pitches in order to arrange an in-depth study of one specific undertaking. This is enough to validate the concept and motivate the next RUBIKA / IÉSEG classes even more!