WHERE it opens its doors, game developing companies follow.

Before Digipen, a famous game development school, opened its first campus, the state of Washington in the US had fewer than 10 game companies in 1998.

But in the 10 years since the DigiPen Institute of Technology started schooling undergraduates, Washington now has over 150 game-related companies, developing both hardware and software.

That industry buzz is what Singapore hopes to bring here, with DigiPen's third campus - its only one outside the United States - officially opening here on Friday.

The school, located in one-north in Buona Vista, will offer two bachelor degrees in game development to about 40 students in its first intake.

It intends to take in about 570 students within five years, of which 40 per cent of them are expected to come from overseas.

Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, speaking at the opening, said game companies were looking for talent and the new school would 'play an integral role in addressing the digital media industry's manpower capability needs'.