Malaysian universities are strengthening their links with video-game companies as the country cements its place as a regional hub for the industry.
The connections between video-game education in Malaysia and the gaming industry were further solidified last week following the signature of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Management and Science University (MSU) in Kuala Lumpur and Xsolla, a US company that makes payment software for video games.
MSU has become the latest Malaysian university to collaborate with a gaming company in a long history of similar successful partnerships. University of Wollongong Malaysia signed an MoU with Codemasters Studios over a decade ago, and Sony PlayStation Studios also signed an agreement with The One Academy, an art and design college in Kuala Lumpur.
Ivan Yee, game ecosystem manager at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU), described the MoUs between universities and gaming companies as “more like a handshake” than a formal contract. But he added that these shared agreements are “beneficial” to students, who gain industry insights, visits to studios and an understanding of how the sector operates.
President of Xsolla, Chris Hewish, voiced similar sentiments, saying that Xsolla’s partnership with MSU “gives students access to the technologies, workflows, and commercial infrastructure used throughout the industry”.
