HOST, Salford’s Home of Skills & Technology at Media City, have announced its partnership with Unity (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content, to establish the first Unity Centre of Excellence in the UK. The Centre of Excellence at HOST will offer extensive in-person support to students, professionals and small businesses with a mission of becoming the ‘Beacon of the North’ for best-in-class technical skills and innovation across industries. According to XQ Institute’s report High School & the Future of Work, the biggest change between the workforce today and the workforce in 2030 will be the demand for advanced IT and programming skills. This Centre of Excellence will upskill learners to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, promote immersive technology usage across sectors, create highly skilled jobs and establish a central home for the thriving UK video games industry at MediaCityUK.
Creators, ranging from game developers to artists, architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and more, use Unity to make their imaginations come to life, with an average of 5 billion downloads every month in 2020. While the UK video games market hit a record high of £7 billion last year as lockdown caused an unprecedented surge in the popularity of mobile games, consoles and virtual reality headsets. In line with HOST’s commitment to removing the present barriers impacting diversity and inclusivity, the Centre of Excellence will launch a comprehensive training programme working with UK universities and industry to deliver professional Certified Unity training.
“This is an incredible coup for us, we are immensely humbled and privileged for Unity to have chosen us. We can now massively accelerate startup growth, business innovation, incentivise the creation of thousands of jobs, and provide fair access to high-quality career starts with ground-breaking initiatives such as the Unity Cadets,” said Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group, operators of HOST. “Unity is the leader in real-time 3D development so the Centre of Excellence at HOST will establish MediaCityUK as a global destination for the growth of the gaming and immersive technology industry.”
Pictured: Mo Isap, CEO of IN4.0 Group and Dr Maria Stukoff, Director of the University of Salford’s Maker Space.
