Thursday 4 July 2024
Video Game Designer and industry legend Charles Cecil MBE is set to receive an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Leeds Arts University.
Charles Cecil MBE, awarded ‘Industry Legend’ status by Develop (Europe’s leading development magazine), has been a key figure in video games development for over 40 years. In 1990 he founded Revolution, one of the world’s leading adventure game companies which created the Broken Sword and Beyond/Beneath a Steel Sky series. Charles has additionally designed titles as diverse as The Da Vinci Code for Sony Pictures and Doctor Who for the BBC for which he won a BAFTA award.
Charles has a particular interest in the narrative and aesthetic aspects of Interactive Narrative and how this medium will develop with advancing technology. Charles regularly talks at national and international conferences, and to mainstream press about creative and commercial aspects of the video games industry.
Charles Cecil MBE, said: “I am deeply honoured to be receiving this recognition from Leeds Arts University, an institution with such an incredibly rich history, whose alumni have included some of the most extraordinary creative minds of the 20th century. It is wonderful that Leeds Arts celebrates the contribution of video games to our vibrant creative culture and I feel privileged to be associated with a university that is so effectively inspiring the next generation of students to shape the future of the arts for the 21st century.”
Professor Simone Wonnacott, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Arts University said: “We are honoured to present an Honorary Master of Arts degree to Charles Cecil, a leading figure in the video games industry. The breadth of his work is an inspiration not just to those graduating from games related degrees, but to all our graduates as an example of how exciting and diverse a career in the creative industries can be.”
Charles will be recognised by Leeds Arts University during a graduation ceremony held at The Royal Armouries on Monday 8 July 2024. The ceremony will celebrate graduating students from across the University’s undergraduate degree courses.
ENDS
For images, interviews and further information:
Sophie Miller Wallace | PR and Communications Officer | sophie.millerwallace@leeds-art.ac.uk | 0113 202 8044 / 07442828511
Klaus Piechocki-Brown | PR and Communications Officer | klaus.piechocki-brown@leeds-art.ac.uk | 0113 202 8044 / 07879414706
About Leeds Arts University
Leeds Arts University is the only specialist arts university in the North of England, with award-winning facilities and expert tutors dedicated to the study of creative arts subjects across postgraduate, undergraduate and further education courses.
Founded in 1846 as the Leeds Government School of Art and Design, Leeds Arts University has contributed significantly to the development of arts education in Britain and across the world. Leeds Arts University invests heavily in its award-winning, industry-standard facilities and in 2021 the University appointed acclaimed musician Skin to the role of Chancellor.