In the final week of our electives at Vlerick Business School, we (Marvin Kaunda, Simon Decock, Lucas Verhoustraeten and Michaël Martens) got the opportunity to participate in the brand-new gaming elective, together with a limited group of students. This group had both gaming enthusiasts as well as those who rarely play a game in it but were all willing to learn something new.

Following the Covid-measures strictly, the group met on-campus where Prof. Bjorn Cumps guided us through the theory behind a game. Going from an introduction (‘What is a Game?’) to the Business models and ecosystems behind it.

He was joined by a vast array of guest speakers who each brought their expertise and learnings from a specific view. Jeroen Janssen from Happy Volcano introduced us into the game development trajectory and the business models and choices behind a successful game.

Michiel Houwen (Operations Manager at DAE Studios: Game Technology Accelerator) introduced us to the learning perspective: ‘How can we train new talent and create a vibrant ecosystem here in Belgium?’ Next up were Nicolas Hulsmans (Co-Founder at Dexerto) with the community perspective, Birger de Geyter on marketing and gaming, Axel Gekiere  on the influencer aspect and Frederik on professional gaming analytics.

The fact that all these speakers had a distinct viewpoint gave us a 360°-view on the gaming industry going from industry applications to professional esports.

Finally, Joris de Koninck (Co-Founder Kayzr.com and StriveCloud.io) shed a light on automated gamification software whereas Tim Dierckxsens (CEO, Co-Founder at Arkane Network) presented us to blockchain in gaming. The fact that all these speakers had a distinct viewpoint gave us a 360°-view on the gaming industry going from industry applications to professional esports.

However, the elective was not over yet. Time for applying hands-on learning by making our very own game! Our main protagonist slidey cube slides his way through a 3D world trying to squeeze himself into holes in the walls. With a final presentation we surely hope to have convinced our peers of investing in our breakthrough game design.

To summarize, an intense 1 week elective took us on a 360-journey through the gaming world, aided by Prof. Bjorn Cumps and an army of guest speakers. They taught us on business models and ecosystems but also on influencer marketing and blockchain. However, we’re convinced much more is to learn and are eager to apply gamification in a business context or even venture into gaming ourselves.

Written by Marvin Kaunda, Simon Decock, Lucas Verhoustraeten and Michaël Martens (current Masters in International Management & Strategy and Masters in General Management)