Bristol-based games developer Opposable Games is to help stage courses in gaming software, digital marketing, data science, AI and user experience to help train more people for work in the region’s growing digital and creative businesses.
Recruitment for the courses, created by Next Generation, Bath Spa University and UWE Bristol will start next month. 
The courses, part of a £2m investment by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), were announced by Metro Mayor Dan Norris during the region’s first Jobs and Skills Summit.
Mayor Norris, who has pledged to secure good jobs and training for the region, said: “There is increasing demand for skilled workers in our digital businesses that are struggling to find the talent they need.
“These courses delivered in the region will help to train more people for our growing businesses and have been designed to attract people that perhaps haven’t previously thought about a career in this area.”
Opposable Games managing director Ben Trewhella said: “The games industry is already the largest entertainment industry in the world by revenue and employment and is booming. However, there is a dire skills shortage with local companies now employing international staff.
“Learning to program games technology is engaging and incremental, with immediate feedback, and unlocks high paying careers in the progressive and exciting games industry and wider engineering and technology fields.
“We are very proud to be working with an ambitious group of employers and look forward to helping a new generation of tech workers find careers they can be passionate about.”
The courses will run until next March and have been developed to attract a wide range of people from diverse groups that may not have previously considered working in this sector.
