This question is to all of you die-hard gamers out there. Which country spawned Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption, Fortnite and Battlegrounds?

Is it the United States? Australia perhaps?

No! It’s the UK. Didn’t see that coming did you?

Banter aside, gaming is a serious business in the UK. Just this last financial year ending in April 2019, the sector has reported net revenue of a record £5.7bn! This phenomenal success of videogame industry also benefits other associated sectors like the film industry, toy makers, shops, entertainment venues and of course software and hardware companies. This is because popular games like Mario or Tomb Raider, lead to films and toys inspired by these games being produced and sold.

The UK is home to several respected video game companies like Rockstar North, Criterion Games, Rocksteady, Take-Two and many others. In addition to producing games for playing on computers or consoles like PlayStation, British game developers are also pioneering the development of virtual reality (VR) games. Tetris Effect and Star Trek Bridge Crew are a few of the earliest VR games and have proved that there is a huge potential for this type of games. It is expected in the next few years, with the advancement in computer hardware technology, the demand for VR games will soar.

Given all this, is it a surprise then that the UK is a fantastic destination for studying animation, graphic design and computer games development?

One of the best universities (and indeed in the world) is Teesside University. The university is located in a historic town called Middlesbrough, which is in the commuting distance of major cities like Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds and Newcastle. The University has been rated Gold by the UK government for its facilities and standards of teaching and graduate employability. Teesside University is especially famous for its visual effects, animation and video games design courses. All of these courses are delivered in partnership with industry and give students the option of undertaking an internship as part of the course. In fact, some of their students and graduates went to work on popular blockbuster films like the Avenger Series, Avatar, SPECTRE, Casino Royale, Dark Night Series, many Children's Animation movies, not to forget the famous character Christian Grey (played by Jamie Dornan) is an former student of Teesside and the list goes on...

Some of the courses you could study at Teesside are:

•    MA Games Design

•    MA 3D Game Art

•    MA Animation

•    MA Visual Effect

Applications are still open for the September 2019 intake. So, what are you waiting for? Head to your nearest STORM office to find out more and start applying! While you’re at it, don’t forget to download STORM app http://bit.ly/2HeSq3C from Google Play store to keep on top of latest news and developments, courses and scholarships and get to speak to current students studying abroad and win cool prizes!