Levelling Up - How Into Games Inspired the Next Generation of Game Designers
The video games industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK. However, it remains a challenging industry to break into. Into Games is a UK charity widening access to careers in the video games industry for people from working-class and low-income backgrounds.
By the Creative Careers Collective
Into Games delivered a programme of in-school games careers workshops during Discover Creative Careers Month in November 2025. They brought hands-on games industry workshops directly into classrooms across the country, with a total of 749 students taking part across 17 schools in four cities.
Each 90-minute session was led by a trained games industry professional, giving students a genuine employer encounter that meets Gatsby Benchmark requirements.
During the sessions, students experienced real-world studio insights and challenges:
- Industry practitioner encounter: Each session was led by someone currently working in games, who opened by sharing their own career journey, placing a real person, not a slide deck, at the centre of the workshop.
- Team-based game concept activity: Students worked in teams to create original game concepts, taking on different development roles and seeing how a game moves from idea to release.
- Roles and pathways exploration: Structured discussion of the jobs that actually exist in the sector, from art and audio to production, QA and community, and the routes into each.
- BAFTA co-designed workbook: Every student received a printed 50-page workbook, co-designed with BAFTA, which guides them through games careers and doubles as an entry vehicle for the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition.
Student and teacher feedback was consistently strong across all participating regions. Of the students surveyed, 100% reported knowing more about games design roles than before the workshop, and 98% said they enjoyed the delivery. Among responding teachers, 100% rated their satisfaction as satisfied or very satisfied, 100% rated facilitator effectiveness as good or excellent, and 100% said they would like Into Games to return.
The local impact was immediately visible. One teacher in Middlesbrough noted their surprise at how many games companies were based in the North East, adding that it was a career they would now consider themselves. Meanwhile, a teacher in Brighton described students leaving the session incredibly enthused about entering the BAFTA competition.
The programme has left durable relationships behind it. Into Games has established ongoing partnerships with every school delivered in and is returning to deliver again this year and beyond.
The workshops also fed directly into the Get into Games festivals in Birmingham and Brighton, giving students a next step within weeks of the classroom session rather than a leaflet and good intentions.
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To find out more about Into Games and the work that they do, visit https://intogames.org/