On Monday, April 26, 2021, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito joined leaders from the Mass. Digital Games Institute (MassDigi) for their 10th anniversary celebration at their current home, Becker College in Worcester. The event highlighted the impact MassDigi has had on the digital games sector in Massachusetts, as a hub for training students and as a launch pad for new game startups. The event also featured two announcements, including the move of MassDigi to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), a move necessitated by Becker’s closure later this year.
Lt. Governor Polito also announced a new two-year award from MassTech to MassDigi which will fund a new digital games training program. WPI’s press release highlighted the new program:
“MassDigi also will expand its work with students and companies in the region through a MassTech Game Prototype Matching Fund created with a new $100,000 grant awarded by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech). The grant will supply funds over the next two years to match private-sector investment in MassDigi’s Summer Innovation Program Extension (SIPX). Firms will apply to work with students to turn early-stage game concepts into working prototypes, which will provide paid job experience and valuable hands-on training to students."
In addition to this new program, the Commonwealth has awarded more than $200,000 to MassDigi since its founding, including a “regional priority grant from the Innovation Institute at MassTech that represented the first public dollars invested in MassDigi.” Our sister agency MassDevelopment has also invested in MassDigi through its Collaborative Workspaces program.
Read the coverage of the announcements in The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, MassLive.com, Spectrum News 1, Worcester Business Journal, and This Week in Worcester.
###