Ryerson University’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education offered an interesting post-grad series of courses for gaming aficionados: the EDGE: Education for Digital and Games Entrepreneurs program which ran workshops in January 2012.
“Ontario is rapidly becoming viewed as a leader in digital media and gaming,” says Dr. Gervan Fearon, Dean of The Chang School. “Recognizing this growing market, The Chang School is pleased to be a partner with Interactive Ontario to offer programming to help prepare the next generation of leaders in this innovative industry.”
The program is in partnership with Interactive Ontario (IO), an NPO promoting the growth of the interactive digital content industry in Ontario. The courses hone in on the business aspects of the interactive gaming sector, offering some entrepreneurship insight to enthusiastic game developers. Courses include “Entrepreneurial Finance in Interactive Gaming,” “Intellectual Property in Interactive Gaming” and “Leadership and Entrepreneurial Behaviour in Interactive Gaming,” among others. No word on when the next round of courses will be offered.
The EDGE program was funded in part by the Government of Ontario. Digital media growth is not being impeded by economic “austerity” initiatives like the 2012 Ontario Budget. The Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC), left untouched in the budget, has continued to grow in scope and generosity since its launch in 2006. The OIDMTC rate has doubled from 20 to 40 percent since 2006, and the credit has been amended to include products developed under fee-for-service arrangements and remuneration (contract) costs. It’s good news for the first wave of grads from the EDGE program – digital game corporations have the potential to claim a significant portion of salary under the credit.
Maybe we’ll see the next Angry Birds come out of the program (I’m still partial to Fruit Ninja).
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