Xbox Academy Free Game Development Classes: Microsoft Offers 3 Free Gaming Courses
In an effort to give the younger generation a taste of how video games are developed, Microsoft launched the Xbox Academy in its Microsoft Store in Sydney, Australia.
Xbox Academy is a partnership between Microsoft and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment that offers free game development courses, with each class being three hours long.
AIE is a non-profit college which focuses mainly on video game animation and effects. The Xbox Academy offers three different courses, which are personally taught by tutors from the AIE.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The three programs are Game Design, Game Programming, and Game Development for Xbox One - though the lessons learned are also applicable to other types of gaming platforms.
According to GameSpot, each student from a class is provided with a Surface Tablet for class activities such as note-taking, drawing, and of course when it comes to programming and developing Xbox One games.
The Game Design course mainly focuses on teaching the students on how to develop or conceptualize designs for a game. Students are tasked to write a short pitch of a game they want to develop, and afterwards, the class conducts peer reviews and provide feedback on concepts done by their classmates.
The Game Programming course, meanwhile, introduces students to the cross-platform game engine, Unity, wherein they can introduce objects and properties into the game through its graphical interface.
Lastly, the Game Development course covers coding lessons for other Windows platforms aside from Xbox One, like PCs, Hololens, and even mobile devices.
After the courses, the students can still continue to work on their gaming projects at home with the Xbox One as their development kit and a free download of the game engine, Unity. A complimentary flash drive is also given to allow them to save any work done at the Microsoft Store.
The Xbox Academy offers these free classes from April 10 to 22, and it aims to at least accommodate 120 students. Enrollment can be done through the Microsoft Events web page.
