Irish esports organisation Wylde have partnered with Belfast Met College around its foundation esports degree.
The multi-year partnership will see Wylde become the official esports partner for Belfast Met, which is the largest Further and Higher Education College in Northern Ireland and one of the largest in the UK.
Belfast Met has a first-of-its-kind foundation esports degree, which is open for students to enrol and begins in September 2023.
Wylde will assist in delivering lectures and networking events, provide industry access, oversee course projects and career placement opportunities, and will work with Belfast Met College ‘to deliver the most relevant curriculum’. The news was announced on the Wylde website.
The partnership extends Wylde’s commitment to the development of talent and esports education, following the opening of Ireland’s first esports academy in Cork, the Wylde Academy powered by Virgin Media.
The news also comes half a year after Northern Irish League of Legends streamer Rezone was appointed lecturer for Belfast Met College’s new esports degree.
“We are delighted to partner with BelfastMet, who share our vision in developing esports talent. Wylde was established with a core focus to responsibly help to provide education, training and skills, enhancing opportunities for those who have a passion and drive for esports.”
Steve Daly, Wylde
Belfast Met’s esports course co-ordinator Michael Smyth (pictured left) said “We are thrilled to partner with Ireland’s premium esports organisation.
“At Belfast Met, our Foundation Degree in partnership with Wylde sits in the Creative and Digital Technologies Department and will look at the esports industry as a whole. We believe our esports offering will represent unique opportunities for students to enhance their skills for future careers.”
Wylde CEO Steve Daly added: “We are incredibly passionate about supporting new talent into esports and this partnership is our way of onboarding the next generation of gamers, whilst supporting the community.
“We are delighted to partner with BelfastMet, who share our vision in developing esports talent. Wylde was established with a core focus to responsibly help to provide education, training and skills, enhancing opportunities for those who have a passion and drive for esports.”
Wylde are co-owned by Usain Bolt and compete in games such as Rainbow Six Siege, Valorant, FIFA and Rocket League.
Wylde have won titles including the Rainbow Six GSA League 2022 and the EU Gamers Without Borders Championship title, and placed third at Gamers8 2022 in Riyadh.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
