From June 24 to July 12, 2024, the 9th grade students had the opportunity to learn more about the companies in the games industry based in Hamburg, what it means to work in this field and which different job profiles exist. The ninth graders were given vivid insights into InnoGames, FISHLABS, Square Enix, Tivola Games and the HAW University of Applied Sciences. This enabled them to build up a small portfolio and learn how to develop their own video game in a genre of their choice. Throughout the internship, the students were accompanied by media educators from the Initiative Creative Gaming.

In their final presentation, the students demonstrated their newly acquired knowledge of various professions within the video games industry. They then presented seven different games that they had developed during the internship as part of smaller exercises and a two-day game jam. Everything from illustrated text adventures and point-and-click games to pixel platformers was represented.

Andreas Hedrich, media educator at the Initiative Creative Gaming e.V. and organizer of the internship alongside Christiane Schwinge, also draws a positive conclusion: “This year, we were impressed not only by the passion but also by the knowledge the interns already had. Many of them had already made their first attempts at programming, character design or game design. Some had also already learned how to use industry-standard engines. The seriousness with which the young people are taking this, clearly shows us that careers in the video games industry are being taken more and more seriously.”

School Internship Games: Joint Project of the Hamburg Games Industry 

The School Internship Games is organized as a joint project of the Hamburg games companies FISHLABS GmbH, InnoGames GmbH, Square Enix and Tivola Games GmbH as well as the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and the Initiative Creative Gaming e.V. Initiated by game - Association of the German Games Industry e.V. (regional representation Hamburg) and supported by Gamecity Hamburg

Further information events by Gamecity Hamburg

In addition to the joint school internship in games, the Gamecity Hamburg initiative, which is supported by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, offers other opportunities to introduce students to the games industry as a career option. In the "Gamecity@School" program, students meet experts from the games industry for two school hours, who share insights and experiences from their everyday working lives. Schools and teachers interested in hosting a "Gamecity@School" event can contact Senta Gohr, PR Manager at Gamecity Hamburg, via e-mail.

Contact - Gamecity@School: