A peek into the world of PlayStation London Studio’s games development
25 June 2020
It’s not every day that students get access to the professional world of video game development but computing students across several different courses at Leicester College were in for a treat as a guest speaker from PlayStation London Studio visited us recently.
London Studio is an award-winning studio that develops VR experiences on PlayStation platforms. Since 2002, the company has pioneered new approaches with immersive technology for games such as EyeToy, SingStar, Wonderbook and Blood & Truth.
London Studio’s Principal Gameplay Programmer, Duncan Walker joined Leicester College students from courses including Level 3 Computing, Access to HE, HE HND Computing and computing students from Arts & Media to give an inspirational talk on his personal journey.
Duncan outlined what steps he has taken from humble beginnings as a student in North Wales to his current high-profile job at PlayStation London Studio. He emphasised the importance of teamwork and how it takes people from different backgrounds, with different characteristics and skillsets to come together and make a great game.
He explained what day-to-day hands-on work he undertakes as a games programmer, relaying details of exciting prototyping stages and passionate creative discussion. He also highlighted the ‘unglamorous’ side of the role, calling for hard work, prioritisation and other key attributes.
Duncan finished with some great tips on how to get into the industry, but not before he revealed an exclusive behind the scenes look of how their latest game, Blood & Truth was developed.
Speaking about his talk, Duncan said: “London Studio is a great employer and I’m delighted that they allowed me some time to come and talk to the students at Leicester College. It was a really nice experience to see how engaged the students were and to respond to their brilliant questions.
“We’ve got a rich history at the studio and are one of the first teams to get our hands on the latest PlayStation technology, turning them into new game experiences. It was a pleasure to let people see behind the scenes into some of our work on our latest game.”
Positive feedback from students
“The talk gave us insight on the gaming industry and the technologies that are currently being used. This will really help me to decide on what I want to do as a career.”
“I now understand how big a role maths plays in programming, the logistics of a programmer and how passionate you need to be.”
“It was refreshing to have someone who has industry experience, really advantageous and encouraging for me.”
“I now have a greater understanding of the requirements needed for a career in the field of game development.”
“I have now got more insight about the process of getting things done in the right order. I was also encouraged to never give up.”