Games design students help local company score a winner

17 May 2017

UCLan students help Preston games design company to create its latest football game

A local games design company has enlisted the help of students from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) during the development of its latest title released today.

Soccer Manager Arena is the brainchild of Preston games design company Soccer Manager Ltd, established in 2004 by four UCLan graduates.  The growing company, which is based on Preston Docks, has worked with more than 30 UCLan games design students to test and improve the real time football game, where players compete against each other from across the globe.

Junaid Attique, Alex Dickman, Lloyd Everson and Chris Mulcahy all worked on the project by checking the game for bugs, assessing its control systems and menu set up and suggesting ways to improve it.

"It’s been a pleasure working with Bev Bush and the Games Design students from UCLan and we are very grateful for all of the testing and feedback they have given."

Junaid, 32, said: “We were able to find ways of making the game more appealing and playable and generally provide the feedback Soccer Manager needed to have the game ready for the public.  It’s been a great experience to be involved in the whole process and see how it came together.”

Development of Soccer Manager Arena began last April.  Available on mobile devices, as players win trophies they unlock new levels and gain access to different iconic arenas and other elite players with different special abilities. Users can form a league with friends or others from around the world ­­and help improve each other's players whilst leading their team to victory.

Steven Gore, Director of Publishing at Soccer Manager, said: “It’s been a pleasure working with Bev Bush and the Games Design students from UCLan and we are very grateful for all of the testing and feedback they have given. This has certainly helped shaped the development of a game that we believe is going to have mass global appeal.”

As the company has developed and grown to the level it is today, it has gone on to employ a number of other UCLan graduates in full-time positions and has also provided summer work placements to some of the Games Design students who have participated in the testing events.

"It’s fantastic that a company set up by UCLan graduates is now able to utilise the ongoing talent coming out of the University and also see our students benefit from working on real-life commercial projects."

Bev Bush, Senior Lecturer and Acting Course Leader BA (Hons) Games Design at UCLan, said: “It’s fantastic that a company set up by UCLan graduates is now able to utilise the ongoing talent coming out of the University and also see our students benefit from working on real-life commercial projects.  We are delighted to have such strong links right here on our doorstep and already Chris Mulcahy has been offered a work placement with Soccer Manager on the back of this project.”

Learn more about the game.