nDreams Academy Celebrates 50 Lifetime Hires With Fresh Team and Ambitious Roadmap
With 17% of nDreams team having come from the nDreams Academy, incoming Early Careers Manager Lien Cross is setting her sights even higher
TUESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2023 – The nDreams Academy, a dedicated initiative improving access to gaming careers from the world’s biggest VR game developer and publisher, has officially given 50 people their first industry roles.
Since starting in April 2021, the scheme has inducted 50 team members – spanning apprentices, paid interns, graduates, and more – at an average rate of nearly two per month. The result is that 17% of nDreams’ 230-strong team have now been hired via the nDreams Academy, which is significant given the well-documented challenge faced by those seeking their first opportunities in the industry.
For context, data from Games Jobs Live shows that entry-level positions have made up only 2% of all open games industry positions in 2023, equalling around 55 total vacancies for juniors across the entire UK games industry on an average month. With nearly 3,500 graduates of gaming courses in 2021, a number that is likely to be significantly higher in 2023, the enormity of the challenge is clear to see.
Taking the nDreams Academy forward will be Lien Cross, nDreams’ new Early Careers Manager, who brings a decade of specialism in early careers and talent development from Surrey County Council. She is joined by incoming Head of Recruitment Katy Flynn, previously of Meta and Google, in a significant shake-up of the nDreams talent team to match the company’s ambitions.
Cross and Flynn are overseeing the rollout of six new nDreams Academy roles today – in disciplines including programming, art, and video editing – in a significant commitment to early careers at nDreams and a boost to those looking for their first roles in gaming.
There is also a range of locations on offer, with the new Academy openings spanning nDreams' Farnborough HQ, the fully-remote nDreams Studio Elevation, and Brighton's Near Light.
Significantly, these roles – and all nDreams Academy positions going forward – will also encourage applicants without university education to apply. Although graduate access to the industry remains a challenge in itself, the fact remains that 86% of the UK games industry workforce have at least one degree. Ensuring there are pathways for those from alternative educational backgrounds is important to nDreams, and Lien Cross personally:
“As someone who began their career as an Apprentice, I understand the vital importance of different pathways to access this industry and develop within it,” says nDreams’ new Early Careers Manager. “I’m proud to be joining nDreams with the exciting mission to take the nDreams Academy even further, using my experience to help bring through the next generation of future games industry leaders.”
In its two years of existence, the nDreams Academy model has proven hugely successful in identifying and nurturing new talent. Nearly 80% of those hired via the Academy have been promoted, with others moving on to different opportunities or returning to education after their fixed placements. The promotion rate rises to 99% when looking at those hired specifically in roles across nDreams’ four studios on game development teams, showing a real opportunity for aspiring developers to get a foothold in the industry.
And more broadly, nDreams is growing rapidly, nearly doubling in headcount last year and hiring more than 70 people in 2023 so far. The publisher’s latest release, Synapse, has been a critically-acclaimed hit described by Eurogamer as "Pure power fantasy… what VR is all about.” A flagship PlayStation VR2 exclusive, developed in close collaboration with Sony, it is a chart-topping game for PlayStation’s latest VR headset. Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord and PowerWash Simulator VR are also launching in 2023.
“The games industry has taken positive steps in recent years to make access to careers more equitable, but there’s still a long way to go,” says Tamsin O’Luanaigh, Chief People Officer at nDreams. “We want to be at the forefront of this push and I’m excited for Lien and Katy to help us build on the success we’ve already had with the nDreams Academy, to develop talent in areas of skills shortage.
"While our aim first and foremost is to ensure that talented people from all backgrounds can access roles at nDreams, we want to show other companies what’s possible and help achieve more widespread change in our fantastic industry.”