Games developer achieves academic success

Ellie Dudley’s work has already been seen by millions as she’s been named among the world’s leading young games developers.

Ellie, 23, currently lives in London and commutes to her job in Guildford, where she works as a Graphics User Interface (GUI) Artist at Lionhead Studios (Microsoft), who are best known for the Fable series.

The BA (Hons) Computer Games Art graduate is currently working on the next Fable title, Fable Legends.

Originally from North Wales, Ellie said: “I'd heard good things about the games course at Teesside and was impressed by the links to industry through internships and how so many lecturers had experience of working in the games industry.

'I chose computer games art as video games have always been a huge part of my life and combined with my love of art it was my dream course.

'During the degree I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn new skills and expand on what I'd learnt in my own time. I lived in Middlesbrough for the whole three years, around five minutes away from the main campus. The computer labs were my second home.'

Earlier this year Ellie was 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. And she says her time at Teesside helped to put her on the path to success.

'While I learnt a lot from my course, having a basic knowledge allowed me to explore other areas of computer games art, such as user interface, which I am now working in. It's useful knowing all the different areas of art in video games as it makes it much easier when working in a games studio.'

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.

She 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 yet to be launched to the public and getting to test it months before everyone else got their hands on it.

'Having the placement enabled me to experience many different areas of art and find a position I was able to excel in. As a GUI artist I get to work with front end code as well as getting to be creative, so it's the best of both worlds and suits me perfectly.

'I’d advise anyone thinking of studying at Teesside to use everything the University offers you. Apply for placements, work outside of tutorial and lecture times. If you really love making video games, you need to put the effort in and make your passion shine through.'

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