Game Entrepreneurship (5cr)

Evaluation scale

Pass/Fail

Content scheduling

The first half of the course will be focused on familiarization with more fundamental game business concepts and tools, as well as on practicing them through thematic assignments. During the second half, the course content will likely be oriented on more nuanced aspects of game business operations and processes, and on in-depth analysis of specific business practices, while the practical side will be structured around the pieces necessary for the business pitch deck final course project.

Students may choose to take on separate practical assignments or the final course pitch deck project individually. But it would be generally recommended to form small groups, guided by common game business interests, to work on the business pitch final course project collectively. Such groups will be expected to fully form by the end of the first half of the course.

Objective

The object of the course:

This course provides you with basic knowledge of entrepreneurship, game start-ups and profitable business in game industry. In this course you can evaluate your own entrepreneur skills and expand your understanding of the game industry.

Course competences:
Business competence
Game production competence

The learning objectives of the course:
After this course you will know what it takes to start up a game studio. You will understand the requirements from the technological, business, personnel and funding point of views. You will understand how to plan and manage the cash flow and what kind of sources can be used to support your game business.

Content

This course is a game related part for the entrepreneurial studies. In this course you will not develop (of course you can) your own business but more to get acquainted with the specialties in the game industry. You will learn how the funding is organized in game business and what kind of sources there are to be used. What is the role of the publisher and what kind of agreements you are to be made with them? You will also learn what is the role of marketing and how that should applied in start-ups.

Materials

Learning materials and recommended literature will be shared with students during the course via its dedicated electronic communication space in Moodle.

Teaching methods

The course will be delivered by a seasoned game entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of a 10-year-old game development studio. It will exercise a rather hands-on business approach and will be structured as a combination of weekly on-site lectures, in-class discussion workshops, and off-class practical assignments (either individual or group-based) for students to be carried independently in between the classes.

Lectures will provide a crash course in all the essential aspects of business entrepreneurship, while actively analyzing them from the video games perspective, utilizing practical cases and examples from the games industry, and highlighting specific features and traits of running a game business.

Practical assignments will be carried out by the students independently in between the lectures, but will be essentially tied to the previous lecture contents — to help the students better internalize the received information, apply their critical thinking and immediately put their newly acquired knowledge to practice. The assignments will have to be returned in written (essay or slides) format via the course's dedicated electronic space (Moodle) and will, in some cases, imply a short in-class presentation of the associated student work.

The course will culminate in creation of a business pitch deck presentation, which should be seen as the final practical outcome for each student and the ultimate business instrument for any aspiring entrepreneur. The created business pitches will be eventually validated during the course's final pitching "competition" event, where students will pitch their business concepts as short live presentations in front of a panel of judges (invited game business experts) and receive valuable feedback.

During the course students will familiarize with a plethora of business concepts and practical tools, both generally applicable and game context specific, such as business plan, pitch deck or competitor analysis, — and will practice their use ahead of their possible future careers as game entrepreneurs.

Employer connections

During the course students will receive multiple opportunities to make acquaintance with local (or Finland-based) game business owners and practitioners, as well as business experts. This will help them to start building their professional business network early on, and potentially create internship prospects for themselves in the longer run.

Active participation in the course's final pitching "competition" event may not only allow students to validate their business ideas with the help of game industry experts' feedback, but also forge crucial connections for their future game business or entrepreneurial careers.

Students will be also encouraged to attend local game industry events — to familiarize with the local game industry scene, obtain hands-on networking experience, and get a hang of game business development and communication practices.

Student workload

The intended student workload for this course is 5 credit points or approximately 135 hours, out of which roughly 40 hours are to be spent in class (lectures and workshops), about 50 hours — on practical assignments and self-studying, and the remainder of approximately 45 hours — on the pitch deck creation final course project.

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

You recognize the needs and requirements for starting up and running a game studio. You know what it takes to create a successful deck for funding. You get connected with the (local/national/global) game industry and apply research among them.

Qualifications

You need to have entrepreneurial skills and understanding of the terms and acronyms in the business overall.

Further information

The course is passed by actively attending the classes, returning all the assignments, and delivering a pitch deck presentation as the final course project.

Spots for exchange students: 5