Game Sup is a private school that offers a preparatory course and two video game bachelor's degrees, game artist or game designer, in 4 years.
Founded in 2016 by Bruno Marion and his wife, the school aims as much for excellence as for the well-being of its students, who are encouraged to work as a team.
The very dynamic video game sector is happy to recruit at Game Sup, while offering many opportunities.
In the premises of Game Sup, in Confluence (Lyon 7), we come across warriors, monsters, and even a life-size Han Solo, frozen in his block of carbonite.
We also come across, and above all, students moving from one screen to another.
From lines of dialogue to lines of code, they weave video games, right up to their graduation project.
Games in their own right, which catch the eye of major creative studios, in a very promising universe: the region has no less than 115 studios, some of which (Arkane, Ivory Tower) are renowned throughout the world.
Two courses, a four-year bachelor's degree
Bruno Marion opened Game Sup in 2016 with his wife.
A veteran of the sector, he is now educational director.
"We offer two training courses: one for game artists, who create the visuals of the games, and one for game designers, who establish the rules of the games", he explains.
“We went to bachelor since 2019. For four years, students follow 2,700 hours of lessons given by 70 external speakers, all professionals.
Tuition fees are 7,800 euros per year, with the school providing each student with a very powerful computer, which they keep at the end of their studies.
If there are other video game schools in Lyon, Game Sup stands out for its course that is deliberately centered on the game, and for the attention paid to the student's personality.
Indeed, this one does not have to be a crack in computer science or in design to integrate the school: "Those who start from zero are often the best, like those who left school for school phobia and passed a equivalent of the baccalaureate with the CNED”, remarks Bruno Marion.
“They can come with any baccalaureate: baccalaureate S can also very well write scenarios, and baccalaureate L start programming.
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The importance of well-being and team spirit
More than technical skills, Bruno Marion insists on the behavior of young people and their team spirit, a quality that has become essential in this sector.
He points to a classroom: “Look at them, they're sitting opposite each other because it's a job that requires exchange, sharing, mutual aid.
Every month, we mix them, each table is designed like a small studio where we make them work like in the industry.
In a video game, it's not being the best game artist that counts, it's working together and getting the best together.
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The development of the student is close to the heart of the educational director, who unfortunately experienced “productions where we worked 60 hours a week, and I do not want to make my students experience that.
They work 6 hours a day, and I sometimes have to put them out at 5:30 p.m. to avoid what is called the crunch, the saturation!
If we want to show a way of being and living in an industry, it starts here, in schools,” he insists.
A very buoyant sector, rich in opportunities
At the end of their course, each student has designed a dozen game prototypes, masters 7 or 8 software, and comes out with a book to present to recruiters.
And it recruits: "We manage to place 90% of our outgoing students", admits Bruno Marion.
“Studios come to us to pick up our final year students.
The fact of having worked a lot in a team allows them to integrate very quickly into the company, they are appreciated for that, they know the constraints of other trades.
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The majority of Game Sup alumni stay in Lyon or in the region, where “a great dynamic” reigns.
If there are only 26% of girls registered this year, they are more and more numerous in the famous macho world of video games.
Their 3D skills also allow them to move towards virtual reality or architectural modeling, "but 90% remain in the world of video games", according to the manager.
When a student wishes to become a teacher in turn
This will be the case for Victor Labbe, 22, in his final year of game design.
"I chose Game Sup because I was looking for a school where there is real contact," he admits.
“I had spent a year at university where there was not the same atmosphere at all, and when I had my interview with Bruno, it was this family aspect that convinced me to stay here.
For this radiant student, the course went beyond his expectations: "It's much more technical, I was very ignorant of how a video game develops, and we see that it's becoming more and more an art.
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The young man hopes to join a studio where he feels good above all: "I want to be able to do what I like, tweak things that players don't see, but that I know..." He knows that the video game world is rich in opportunities, if only at the base of his apprenticeship: "My absolute dream would be to become a teacher at Game Sup... I have a lot of admiration for our teachers, and I would like to be able to offer students what I was offered here.
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3d
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Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes