Rensselaer receives $450,000 to create digital gaming hub

New York employs 1,650 people through its $276 million game development industry.
New York employs 1,650 people through its $276 million game development industry. | File photo

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will receive $150,000 per year for the next three years to establish a digital gaming hub.

The funding, from Empire State Development, is part of an initiative to boost game development in New York while also helping students develop skills that funders believe will translate into new businesses and economic growth for the state. 

State Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) said New York already employs 1,650 people through its $276 million game development industry. Golden and other supporters of the funding said New York was poised to take an even larger share of the $70 billion global gaming industry.

“There is tremendous talent and creativity in games, here in the Capital Region and throughout New York state,” Ben Chang, director of Rensselaer's Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences Program, said. “University researchers are discovering new ways of using games in education and health care, nonprofits are teaching game design to kids and building creative communities, and game developers of all kinds are constantly reinventing the medium. We’re honored to be selected as one of three digital gaming hubs, and excited to be working with our partners in the local community and across the state to take game development in New York to the next level.”