Codemaster’s Accelerator Artists Gain Their First Production Jobs In AAA Games

Intensive Training Course Prepares Graduates For A Promising Career in 3D Games

KUALA LUMPUR, AUGUST 22, 2011 – Developers of the recent critically acclaimed Dirt3 off-road racing game, Codemasters Games Art Studio, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia announced today that full-time employment has been granted to the very first graduates from its Accelerator training program.

Codemasters Accelerator Program or C.A.P. is an in-studio, salaried 3D games art training course for artists who want to fast track their entry into the games industry at Codemasters (KL) but with limited experience or portfolio content to land a full-time position in the studio.

Codemasters (KL) produces some of the world’s best-looking 3D content for AAA games by setting very high standards of visual art quality within the daily work environment. Rigorous QA systems in its production pipeline, constant artist feedback on work produced and in-house training processes contribute to maintaining these standards.

To date, the studio has contributed large proportions of the 3D art and animation content for eight successful and award winning AAA platform Codemasters games (Xbox, Ps3, Pc) titles, the ninth, Bodycount, being released globally at the end of August 2011.

Ivon Smith, Technical Art Trainer at Codemasters commented that “We retain Malaysia’s best games artists, thus applicant portfolios must be of the very highest standard, with games artwork included in them before the artists can even gain an interview at Codemasters (KL).”

To open up the pathway to working at Codemasters (KL), and thus a promising career in 3D games, the Codemasters team has created an intensive training course that introduces trainees to the in-house software used, 3ds Max, trains them in the artistic methods and standards that are daily routine for all the artists and very quickly takes them into production level art asset creation projects.

Guidance, demos and instruction as well as documentation, video tutorials, daily appraisals and feedback procedures for CAP trainees help them progress rapidly as 3D games artists.

Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the agency in charge of developing Malaysia’s ICT initiative, has commended Codemasters’ efforts in opening up programmes that enable talent development.

“We are glad that Codemasters puts strong emphasis on fuller scale talent development – from training to employment. In line with the nation’s goal of transforming into an innovative digital economy by 2020, we need initiatives like the Codemasters Accelerator Program to facilitate the acceleration of strategic-value investments and knowledge-worker development into MSC Malaysia,” Wan Peng said.

After two intensive months of training, based on real-world AAA game asset creation projects, successful CAP Artists are given a further month of training as part of their first venture into real production work at Codemasters (KL) studio.

“Although the material we teach is aimed towards our games the skills acquired are also of a caliber suitable for a 3D games art position in almost any studio in the world and the artists would also have an extensive portfolio of world-class photorealistic games assets! CAP Training at Codemasters (KL) is no ordinary internship program!” said Ivon.

Ivon added “3D artists with portfolio materials can apply for CAP at any time, and if selected based on their artwork and potential, will gain a place in the program which repeats every four months. The next starting date is September 2011. They can email their work to: klrecruitment3d@codemasters.com”

Ivon also mentioned that the response to the training program is overwhelming with hundreds of applicants. Therefore anyone interested in CAP should apply early to potentially secure a place in this unique and valuable training program.