SINGAPORE - Students from Republic Polytechnic's (RP) School of Technology for the Arts (STA) can look forward to working on a new video game with a team of professionals from Ubisoft, a leading game creator and distributor.
RP and Ubisoft Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday (June 4) that will see both sides collaborating for two years.
Selected students from the Diploma in Sonic Arts (DSA) and Diploma in Game Design (DGD) programmes will be involved in the production of Foley effects and sound design for selected Ubisoft game releases, starting with the upcoming multi-player pirate game, Skull And Bones.
Foley effects are audio effects which are added to films or games in the post-production stage. RP's Foley Arts Studio, which was launched in June last year, is the only full-scale studio of its kind in Singapore, and has allowed students to have hands-on experience by producing Foley effects for their own projects.
STA director Sharen Liu noted that Foley effects have largely been used in the film and broadcast industries. She said using Foley effects in the production of Ubisoft games would effectively open a new avenue of employment for RP students when they graduate.
To sweeten the deal, students from the two courses will be provided with internship opportunities at Ubisoft. The company will also conduct workshops on topics such as game audio design and audio production software such as Wwise, or provide career guidance at the polytechnic, every academic semester to facilitate student development and staff training.
Ubisoft Singapore's director of production Hugues Ricour said the company is committed to working hand in hand with local institutions such as RP to groom a new generation of game and sound designers.
For Mr James Young Chee Hin, a third-year DGD student, the collaboration with Ubisoft is a dream come true.
The 23-year-old has been playing Ubisoft-developed games such as Rayman Legends and Assassin's Creed since he was a boy.
"Ubisoft games are so large-scale and immersive - they allow their players so much freedom. It would be amazing to be a part of creating something like that," he said.
Correction note: In an earlier version, we reported that Mr James Young Chee Hin is a second-year DGD student. This is incorrect. We are sorry for the error.
