Epic Games will cooperate with the Faculty of Philosophy of the main university of Russia

Alexey Savchenko, Epic Games Licensing ManagerWhy the Faculty of Philosophy?

It would seem that the choice is not obvious from the point of view of, let’s say, a low-touch practical approach. Usually, companies from the gaming industry, when it comes to education, aim at applied skills (programming, art and fine arts). However, the key to solving the high-level tasks facing the still young industry is precisely the philosophical school of thought, as well as cultural studies, anthropology and disciplines studying the problems of artificial intelligence.

We are not talking here about another idea to get together to talk, no, we are talking about working out and implementing methodologies and programs that I can strengthen, improve and provide more opportunities for developers in Russia. Here you can include:

• work in the field of intellectual property, formalization and IP perspective assessment systems;
• providing unique expertise of the faculty to development studios and publishers;
• formation of a sustainable platform for dialogue between the industry, academic and scientific community;
• validation of games through conventional and understandable media for public discourse (theater, cinema, literature and television).

Joint industry work

From the point of view of the industry program, we have identified several areas, the first of which was announced yesterday: we are glad to see representatives of the faculty in the Unreal Engine Game Development Competition. Dean of the Faculty Vladimir Vasilyevich Mironov joined the competition as an honorary member of the jury. A number of winning games will be offered assistance in strengthening their product from the IP point of view through the expertise of the faculty.

All over the world, the academic community is an additional source of validation and the formation of the credibility of the product, which helps in finding investments in the commercial sphere. Well, there is no reason not to try to develop this direction in the games in Russia. Speaking not only about games, there are the same plans for tools using Unreal Engine.

In addition, in the near future we would be interested in how the company can contribute to the start of a dialogue between representatives of the educational and intellectual establishment of modern philosophical thought in Russia with key industry players. The goal is to develop new, competitive concepts and models in the domestic market, possibly working out additional models of cooperation with international markets. In the latter, the academic community traditionally gives many a head start.

Also, do not underestimate the possibilities of universities in terms of access to, sorry, a structured international library of knowledge. Do you need to send your creative director to the Humboldt University Library in Berlin to enhance the narrative in your linear game and would you like to check the reliability of the game plan already drawn up? Let’s help you do it faster and more efficiently. We have a lot of ideas in the discussion.

Scientific activity

By the way, about methodologies and practices. I would like to tell you about two projects at once.

• Firstly, about the use of modern technologies in educational didactic materials in order to enhance immersion and interactivity.
• Secondly, the problem of typification of terms, semiotic meanings and formalized methods of analysis is gnawing at the industry.

At the first stages, work in these two directions will receive priority. Three more research projects dedicated to anthropology, simulation/virtualization and types of communications will be held at the preparatory stage by the end of 2020.

Business projects

At the moment, the project of the scientific valley “Vorobyovy Gory” is actively developing. It is interesting for a unique commercial offer from the point of view of the economic mode of operation. It also provides an opportunity to solve various infrastructure problems of the industry related to:

• intellectual property rights;
• patent registration;
• access to state-owned intellectual property objects;
• the state information distribution system.

Again, we are talking about completely practical elements of the work and the opportunities that open up in this field. Do you want to make a Russian Assassin’s Creed for “Midshipmen, go ahead!“, be able to quickly scan the necessary key objects in the Hermitage, get tax breaks, an expert pool of personnel by era, co-financing opportunities and access to a wide range of information channels during the release?

It seems to me that if you are a developer who thinks in this direction, then this option may be for you. For our part, we will be happy to provide both a technological solution and support in terms of development. Personally, I would really like to play a game about one of the most interesting historical periods of the Russian Empire in high quality, in cool graphics and with a powerful historical setting.

Plans in the educational field

In addition to the immediate plans for a master’s degree and cooperation in inter-faculty courses, we also see a wide field of opportunities in creating a pool of additional professions, retraining and technology training in terms of a wide range of uses.

Unreal Engine is not only a game engine, it is a multifunctional toolkit that can be used in a variety of spheres of life, for example, in creating a gamified course on the history of philosophy or a futurological “social constructor” for the course of social philosophy.

At the moment, we are already working with a whole galaxy of Russian universities and we believe that in cooperation with our partners at Moscow State University we will be able to form both new programs useful for students and entire specializations.

And events

Well, where to without them? We are planning our participation in the Days of Science, we are ready to help with regular courses of lectures from invited outstanding representatives of game development, as well as support the holding of “Job Fairs” at the MSU site, which will help meet the demand for personnel, which, as you know, is only growing in our industry.

As you can see, in the near future we are going to work closely on this project, and, as usual, we will try to please game developers and those who observe our activities. As they say, do not switch this channel, there will be many more interesting things soon.