Introducing Goblin Games…Spooky season brings launch of two in-house gaming studios at the University of Northampton

The University of Northampton is at the forefront of games innovation after taking advantage of the spooky season to launch an in-house Games Studio (Goblin Games) and an Interactive Research Studio (Goblin Academics).

Established ahead of the academic term in September 2024, Goblin Games offers creative students from the University’s gaming courses – Games Art, Games Design, Games Programming and Animation – to deliver commissions and projects as part of an established, industry-grade games studio.

Already within its first month of launching, West Northants Council has commissioned the talented team at Goblin Games to deliver a purpose-built arcade machine – accompanied by an arcade-style game built specifically for the event – as part of their build-up to the Women’s World Cup in September 2025.

The group of enterprising, super six students at the forefront in-house studios, Goblin Games’ first mission are Programmers Sam Cairns and Sam Waite, Designer Elisa Pojaga, Artists Ben Green and Sam McDonagh, and Sound Designer Roman Pegg.

While Goblin Games is centred on game development and design, Goblin Academics will focus on maximising the latest industry technology to advance the future of gaming, through research, utilising extended reality (XR), virtual reality (VR) and three-dimensional environment scanning.

Based out of the University of Northampton’s Waterside campus, the driving force behind Goblin Games and Goblin Academics is a trio of the University’s academic team: Senior Lecturer in Games Design Vikaas Mistry, Senior Lecturer and Program Lead in Games Design David Nicholls, and Technician Demonstrator for Games & Computing Software Paddy Costelloe.

With the staff team supporting students from the wings, both studios will offer invaluable opportunities for student gaming professionals of the future to integrate themselves into industry-grade studios, levelling up their experience in game development and commercial confidence.

Commenting on the launch of the new studios, Senior Lecturer in Games Design and Project Development Manager of Goblin Games, Vikaas Mistry said: “We are delighted to launch our new in-house games studios, which will provide our students with an unrivalled opportunity to develop their skills in an innovative and industry environment.

“At UON, we are committed to providing our students with the very best facilities and opportunities to help them reach their full potential, and these new platforms are a testament to that commitment.

“However, above and beyond offering industry opportunities to bolster their CVs, our academic focus is all about nurturing the fun of gaming – encouraging our students to be different and let their creativity go wild.

“As well as delivering courses which push their boundaries and challenge their creativity, we run Game Jams twice per year, giving our students full creative licence to develop their own professional style. The launch of Goblin Games and Goblin Academics will be an extension of this, getting students on board with a business to challenge themselves, gain experience – and have fun in the process!”

Find out more about studying Games Design, Games Art and Games Programming at the University of Northampton.

Any businesses or industry professionals who are interested in finding out more about Goblin Games and Goblin Academics are invited to contact Vikaas via email: Vikaas.Mistry@northampton.ac.uk.