Japanese mobile publisher Gree invests in kid coders at S.F. game-making program

Mobile gaming a huge industry, and it’s going to need engineers for years to come. That’s one reason why Japanese publisher Gree has struck a deal to help a San Francisco game-development organization with its curriculum and instruction.

Gree announced today that it is partnering with the MakeSchool softtware-creation program in San Francisco. The deal will have the publisher working to design a curriculum that will help students understand the important modern tools that go into making an iOS or Android game. As part of the Gree course, participants will build and release their own mobile game after eight weeks, and the Japanese company is promising to send over some of its top engineers to help teach people how to accomplish this. MakeSchool provides courses for people as young as high-school-aged kids as well as college students, and now Gree has a hand in grooming this next crop of engineers for the jobs that will exist tomorrow. Mobile gaming generated $25 billion in revenue in 2014, and it’s only going to get bigger as more people come online with smart devices in China, India, and elsewhere.