UKIE sponsors Blitz students

UKIE will fund the travel of selected students attending the Blitz Games Studios 2012 Student Open Days in March.

"We are delighted to be supporting the Blitz Games Studios Open Days as part of our commitment to the Livingstone Hope Skills review recommendations to help the UK's games industry access the high quality graduates it needs to grow and innovate," said UKIE CEO Jo Twist.

"We are long-standing admirers of Blitz's policy of supporting games education and aspiring developers, and it's a pleasure to be able to add our support in this way. We hope that this fund enables even more students to benefit from attending a Blitz Open Day."

Students approved to attend the open day can apply to UKIE for a contributions towards their travel costs. Recipients will be decided on a case by case basis.

"We've always had fantastic feedback from the students who attend our Open Days but increasingly over the last few years it's become apparent that some have either had to spend a large amount of money getting here or, even worse, were simply not able to take up the place they were offered because they couldn't afford to get here," added Blitz's senior events and education coordinator Kim Blake.

"We're delighted that UKIE have stepped in this time to enable us to ensure everyone who deserves a place is able to take it up. UKIE have played a driving role in getting the Next Gen Skills campaign up and running, and this is yet another example of their support for future generations of game developers. We're really grateful for their help and I know the students will be too."