DADIU is growing – and changing the rules of the game along the way

In May 2024, a new four-person academy team was established at DADIU to better prepare students to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving industry. In this interview, the team uncovers its ambitions for an updated games education programme and this new approach's interim results.

This year, DADIU has climbed from 66 students in 2024 to 95. At the same time, the proportion of female applicants has increased from 17% to 21%. Behind these figures lies a targeted effort to make the DADIU programme more diverse and more supportive in dealing with the challenge of working together as a big team.

“DADIU should also encourage critical reflection on how the industry works and change what doesn't work,” says Thomas Vigild, who is the new head of the academy. “I’m grateful that my team consists of very different profiles with the insight to bring about these cultural changes. We complement each other very well. And of course we want the most diverse group of students to see a future for themselves in the game industry.”

A strengthened education

In May 2024, a four person faculty team was established at DADIU. The new structure is meant to bolster the programme with on-going counsel, industry networking and production support available to the students.

Besides Thomas Vigild, the academy consists of coordinator Nadika Johansen and staff teachers Camilla Lyngbo Wolden-Ræthinge and Anders Antoft. They have been tasked with lifting DADIU’s educational programme to new heights, and Wolden-Ræthinge and Antoft both develop games in their own companies while simultaneously teaching DADIU part time - to ensure DADIU’s strong ties to the industry.

Through extensive outreach with info meetings held in Spring at DADIU’s member organizations throughout the country, student interest is building. Engaging a more diverse group of alumni and teachers with the info meetings might be one of the reasons to the success.

Right now, the DADIU team is gearing up to guide the new students through three game productions over the course of the next four and a half months – and to instill in them the courage to start making games together with a bunch of strangers in a new school.

After a hectic first Fall semester in 2024, the academy staff spent months mobilizing new enrollment and altering the educational program based on their experiences.

DADIU teacher Camilla Lyngbo Wolden-Ræthinge explains:
"We have intensified the focus on teamwork and communication. It’s a huge challenge to work in big teams with so many different skills and personalities. We are very intentional about making students feel safe, and deal with conflict and the pressure of producing so much in such a short time,” she says, adding:
"Making games is a team sport. You need people on your team who are different from yourself to make more interesting games. That’s what I tell them.”

Head of DADIU, Thomas Vigild applauds the energy surrounding DADIU students. "We see a huge personal desire to participate in this semester of hands-on game production. Of course we are proud to build on DADIU’s history as a unique network programme bringing together 13 different game relevant educations in Denmark. I love that we have students who have relocated from other countries just to participate in DADIU. Others have tried to join DADIU since they were really young - and now they are finally where they feel they belong.”

With three game productions per team in just four and a half months, it's fair to say students are getting valuable hands-on experience as an add-on to their more theoretical background.

“It has been super exciting to return to teaching after a decade of working in some of the biggest studios in the Danish game industry. I was really curious to meet the new talent and see what they were bringing to the table," says Anders Antoft and adds: "I’m not disappointed by the knowledge, skills and energy they are bringing to DADIU, and I see a bright future for our industry.”

The teachers work very purposefully to be present throughout the semester and follow the individual teams closely. Camila Wolden Ræthinge is responsible for preparing the lead roles: Game Producers, Game Directors, Art Directors and Lead Programmers, while Anders Antoft is supporting and helping the other competency groups. Together they offer feedback and insights to each team and also organize the growing circle of external teachers from the gaming industry as more stable resources to the teams.

A culture in transition

It is no secret that gender equality is still problematic across the gaming industry. In an interview with DADIU last year, games director Sissel Morell Dargis told how she struggled to gain access to the upper echelons of the male-dominated industry.

For the DADIU team, this gender imbalance was an obvious problem to take on.

"Historically, the game industry favors a certain type of stereotypical language. The DADIU intro camp was called ‘boot camp’ and some students told they were told to face the fire. It sounded like students were being prepared for war, and I don’t think that appeals to all the students we want to attract. It was a bit old fashioned and so we renamed it," says Camilla Lyngbo Wolden-Ræthinge. “Instead of ‘crunching’ we try to focus on good pipelines, good planning and healthy team dynamics. If we want to constantly push creativity and innovation as core values, we don’t want students fighting about hierarchy or risking burn-out at any moment.”

Thomas Vigild adds: “I'm a little surprised at how much it has meant to tweak apparently small details such as the language and representation among teachers and students presenting to other students. And it's quite affirming to see that it has had an effect.”

“Conflict is to be expected,” Camilla Lyngbo Wolden-Ræthinge continues. “But we teach them to try and resolve conflict and talk about it openly. We will go a long way to avoid breakdowns in communication for the students to make the most of all the resources on the team. Actually, when the students pitched their graduation games on the stage, together as a team supporting each other, it was quite an emotional experience for them and for us. Even more so because it wasn’t easy to get to that point at all.”

A laboratory for the gaming industry of the future

Different factors are driving the transformation of DADIU. According to the new team a lot is going on in the industry in terms of creating games for various target groups. Games produced at DADIU can have both commercial appeal and creative quality - but this doesn’t mean they have to be only targeted at very traditional, mainstream gaming audiences.

The largest target group for so-called ‘social games’ are women, and according to Thomas Vigild, this is just one example of how the industry's tectonic plates are beginning to shift. But more diversity in the gaming industry and particularly more female leads are still called for.

Industry trends should, of course, influence the academic content of a DADIU semester. But Thomas Vigild believes this actually goes both ways: "DADIU must reflect the needs of the gaming industry. But at the same time, DADIU must also give rise to critical reflection on the way the industry works and change what does not work. The 89 students this year can sow the seeds for a more inclusive culture in their future companies, which can give rise to a more diverse industry."

Camilla Wolden-Ræthinge concludes: "I already know our new students will learn a lot from working hands-on with students from other educations. What I’m hoping for is to inspire them to create games with an original, maybe even personal, angle and inventive mechanics - so they will help renew the industry.”