Level UY celebrated a new edition of virtual training

Last December 9th, the fourth edition of Level UY took place, the biggest event about video games in Uruguay and meeting point of the industry in the country. Referents from the most outstanding companies in the field were in charge of carrying out four workshops, in an intense virtual training day oriented to students, junior professionals and video game enthusiasts. 

The meeting was organized by the Uruguayan Chamber of Video Game Developers (CAVI), the National Directorate of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Communication Services (DINATEL) of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), Uruguay XXI, Antel and Ingenio. 

As a result of the current health situation, the 2020 edition of Level Uy focused on an online training proposal, which included four workshops conducted by industry benchmarks. 

The first workshop of the meeting, entitled CV Gamedev: how to boost your profile, was given by Luján Mackinnon, head of Human Resources of the Uruguayan company Ironhide Game Studio. This segment, oriented to students, graduates and professionals who are looking to enter the job market, focused on how to develop a competitive CV for the video game industry. 

At the same time, the workshop Introduction to TileMaps: Advantages and Good Practices was held, taught by the video game artist Matias Sniadower, who currently works as Lead Artist at Ironhide.  The workshop provided a first approach to the handling of Tilemaps, a powerful tool for generating high performance content quickly and economically.

Next, the workshop Character design for video games. illustrating emotions was given by Macarena Campos, artist at Pomelo Games. In an approach to character design, the workshop touched on aspects such as observational drawing, line of action and silhouettes, and the impact of shapes on the character's perception and personality.

The fourth workshop of the event, entitled Starter pack for devising and creating the music of your video game, was given by the composer Gonzalo Varela, who addressed the guidelines for defining the sound aesthetic of a video game and conducted a practical instance of composition.

A young but promising industry

Since its first edition in 2017, Level UY has positioned itself as the reference event in the video game sector, an industry that is rapidly advancing in its consolidation both locally and internationally, with games that have reached the top of the app store rankings.

Uruguayan creations such as Kingdom Rush and Iron Marines, from the local company Ironhide Game Studio, have exceeded 10 million downloads. Another outstanding company is Pomelo Games, which has had great success with games such as Mars Mars, Once Upon a Tower and Dino People. 

In the last five years, Uruguay has seen a 100% increase in the creation of companies related to the development of video games, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry. These are mostly micro-companies founded by young entrepreneurs between the ages of 25 and 35. By 2017, the value generated by Uruguayan companies in the sector reached 32 million dollars.

Talent, creativity and technology are combined in an incipient but promising industry. The proposals for permanent training and a dynamic and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem are just some of the strengths of Uruguay, a videogame exporter that is set to conquer the world.