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Teesside student named among the world’s best

16 January 2014

 

An ambitious Teesside University student whose work has already been seen by millions has been named as one of the world’s leading young games developers.

Ellie Dudley, 22, is listed in Develop magazine’s annual 30 under 30 – an influential round-up of the best young games development talent sourced from around the world.

The final year Computer Games Art student is described as an 'incredible artist' and is listed alongside other young developers from America, Europe and the UK.

'I am so honoured to be included in the list alongside some truly inspirational people in the gaming industry,' explained Ellie.

As part of her degree, Ellie undertook industry placement at Microsoft where she worked on titles such as Kinect Sesame Street for the Xbox 360 and Sesame Street Touch & Learn TV for Windows 8.

'It was amazing to think that Sesame Street were reviewing my work and approving it too,' said Ellie.

In fact, Ellie made such a positive impression that she was hired by Microsoft’s Soho Productions to work as a Junior Artist before returning to her degree and it was her manager at Microsoft who put her forward for the prestigious Develop 30 under 30.

During her time as a Junior Artist, Ellie worked on Upload Studio for the Xbox One.

She said: 'It was exciting working on a console that had yet to be launched to the public, seeing exclusive previews and getting to test it months before everyone else got their hands on it was an amazing experience.

'Upload Studio was available on all Xbox One consoles at launch and therefore my work was seen by millions of people right from day one, which was an unbelievable feeling and almost topped getting my first official credit as a Technical Artist on Kinect Sesame Street TV.'

Ellie has always been interested in art and she knew Teesside was the perfect university when she realised she could combine her passion for art with her love of computer games by studying BA (Hons) Computer Games Art.

She added: 'I would definitely recommend the course to anybody who is willing to put in the hard work and dedication to achieve the opportunities the University has to offer.

'At the moment I am concentrating on my final year and will see what opportunities arise once I have graduated. But, I have got a taste for the games industry now and can’t wait to get back into it.' Gabrielle Kent, Deputy Head of Games Art and Design at Teesside University, said: 'Ellie is an incredibly gifted student who has an extremely bright future.

'Her time in industry allowed her to showcase her skills and to be included in Develop’s list of up and coming games developers is a remarkable achievement.'


 
 
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