Today’s Gamers, Tomorrow’s Game Designers?

Austin, TX – June 15, 2006 – A kid’s obsession with video games may be less desirable for his/her parents than, say, an obsession with English literature, but parents may be surprised to know that replacing that game console with Chaucer might end a potentially lucrative career before it begins.

Like any other product, video games require planning, market research, design, art, engineering, sales and distribution. There is a need at every stage of the process for smart, passionate individuals. In an effort to build a pipeline through which a passion for gaming can be shaped into marketable, 21st-century skills, Austin Community College and GameCamp! have partnered for a second year to encourage kids and parents alike to push all the right buttons.

GameCamp! And ACC are hosting six one-week-long summer sessions for gamers ages 10 -17. In the camp students learn from video game industry professionals about each stage of the game development process, and by the end of the week students engage in exciting tournament, and a video game design contest judged by industry professionals.

“The curriculum we’ve put together with ACC is the best of its kind in the world,” says Spencer Zuzolo, director of GameCamp! “We expose kids to video games as a viable career path, then point them to ACC’s Video Game Development program for the formal training they need to work in the business.”

To learn more about GameCamp! visit to learn more about ACC’s program visit

National video game software sales eclipsed $7 billion in 2005, and the industry continues to flourish. Austin has been a focal point of this growth, particularly in online video games, and the demand for new talent is great. Sony Online Entertainment, NCSoft, Bioware, Amaze Entertainment, Midway, Critical Mass Interactive and Junction Point are just a few of the studios either headquartered, or with offices in Austin.

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