The Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDigi) at WPI is the center for academic cooperation, entrepreneurship and economic development across the Commonwealth's games ecosystem. MassDigi was conceptualized in 2010 and established in 2011 after a rigorous planning process. Based at WPI, MassDigi is the result of creative collaboration among academia, state government and industry, aimed at fostering the growth of the innovation economy in Massachusetts. Since starting up, MassDigi has launched several initiatives that support entrepreneurship and strengthen the talent pipeline between higher education and the game industry. Specific initiatives include the Summer Innovation Program and the Game Challenge – both of which bring student teams and industry professionals from across the region together to work on projects in a real game development environment. Numerous other important initiatives have also been rolled out including DigiStudio (fka Collab or LiveStudio) and Mentoring on Demand.
