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

In May 2024, a new faculty team and a new educational structure were established at DADIU to better equip students to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving industry. In this interview, head of DADIU, Thomas Vigild, talks about the vision for a brand new group of DADIU students – and how concrete measures have increased enrollment in the program and contributed to a more leveled gender balance among admittees.

This year, DADIU has climbed from 66 students in 2024 to 95. At the same time, the proportion of female applicants has increased significantly. Behind these figures lies a targeted effort to make the game education program broader, more inclusive, and closer to the needs of the industry.

With a new educational structure, a bolstered faculty staff, and a conscious effort to change language and culture, DADIU is now establishing itself as a laboratory for the gaming industry of the future. And as a program that both impacts and is impacted by the ever churning industry.

A strengthened educational focus

Through extensive outreach with info meetings held throughout the country, student interest is building. And now, the DADIU team is gearing up to guide the students through three game productions over the course of the next four and a half months – and to instill in them the courage to fail along the way.

“DADIU should also encourage critical reflection on how the industry works and change what doesn't work,” says Thomas Vigild, head of the program. You can read more about what this means for the teaching team's educational responsibility in this interview.

In May 2024, a four-person faculty team was established at DADIU. Apart from their joint development efforts, this new structure was also meant to bolster the educational aspects of the program, with on-going counsel available to the students.

Thomas Vigild, Camilla Lyngbo Wolden-Ræthinge, and Anders Antoft—all stakeholders with strong indsutry ties — were tasked with lifting DADIU to new heights. After a hectic first semester in 2024, they spent many months mobilizing new enrollment and altering the educational program based on their experiences.

"I must say that we have seen a huge desire and a great need to participate in a semester with concrete hands-on productions, where students can show the concrete results of their hands and technical skills. With three productions in four and a half months, it's fair to say that we're giving them a shift from pure theory to a very practical outcome," says Thomas Vigild, adding:

"In general, we try to take some of the some of the sting out of the whole process for this group of students and make it all feel a little safer. The students need to know that they are allowed to make mistakes and that the process is complex, but not crucial to their future careers."

The teachers work very purposefully to be present throughout the semester and follow the individual teams closely. Camila Wolden Ræthinge focuses on the project leads, while Anders Antoft is responsible for the other competency groups, and together they aim to sharpen the pedagogical focus. In addition, external instructors are also being brought closer to the teams along the way, and it is clear that this new group of teachers is taking on greater pedagogical responsibility than before.

A culture in transition

It is no secret that gender equality is still lacking across the gaming industry. In an interview with DADIU last year, games director Sissel Morell Dargis told that 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. And it turns out that concrete tools can go a long way.

"Historically, things and events within gaming have been named using stereotypically masculine language. You don’t work hard ‘you crunch’, you go to ‘boot camp’, you ‘bootstrap’. It sounds like we're preparing students for war, and that's completely off," says Vigild.

Instead, according to Thomas Vigild, it's about keeping creativity at the center of things – and strengthening the community spirit within the teams.

And that is necessary. At DADIU, students work in constellations reminiscent of small game companies. And here, conflicts will inevitably arise.

That's how it should be, says Thomas Vigild. But it must also be possible to resolve conflicts in a way that allows room for frustration while at the same time working purposefully to channel that frustration into something fruitful.

“I'm a little surprised at how much it has meant to tweak such specific details. And it's quite affirming to see that it has had an effect, because it has been necessary to rewrite the narrative of what you're getting into when you start at DADIU.”

A laboratory for the gaming industry of the future

But it is not only an internal necessity that is driving the transformation of DADIU. According to Thomas Vigild, there is a lot going on in the industry in terms of target groups. For one thing, it has become apparent that the games produced at DADIU appeal to more than what could be called traditional gaming target groups.

The largest target groups within so-called ‘social games’ are women, and according to Thomas Vigild, this is just one example of how the industry's tectonic plates are shifting in recent years. This is also supported by the fact that diversity in the gaming industry has increased with more and more female directors, designers, and art directors – both in Denmark and internationally.

And developments in the industry should, of course, influence the academic content of a DADIU semester. But Thomas Vigild believes that this movement actually goes both ways.

"DADIU has a dual relevance. In other words, it goes both ways. DADIU must reflect aspects of the gaming industry, and students must be trained to withstand an industry in rapid development – for better or worse. 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 95 students must go out and create the new gaming industry; they are the ones who can sow new seeds in their companies, which can give rise to a less competitive and more sustainable and equal industry."

Thomas Vigild also hopes that he and the other teachers will be able to instill some courage in the students over the next four months. Because that is what is needed.

"I just hope that the students feel that they have learned a lot. They should think, ‘Wow, we've learned so much, and we've done it through all our mistakes and by interacting with others who are different from me! ’ And then I also hope that the teams dare create games with something to say and that can challenge the existing dogmas within the industry," he concludes.