Gaming fanatics in Sydney, Australia are getting the chance of a lifetime, as Microsoft reaches out with a new educational course for their fans. This opportunity for young gamers is called the Xbox Academy, and it offers up a series of free courses for students to take part of during Australia’s Easter school holiday, which is this week. The program is run in conjunction with the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, a non-profit college that focuses on game development, animation, and visual effects.

This free educational program offers up a way for young gamers to learn about video game design, development, and programming. Each course is set to run about three hours long. According to Microsoft, these workshops work as a way to introduce students to the programs the AIE runs. It will also offer up some insight and experiences, should students decide to pursue that route in college. Those that were able to attend a media session of the Xbox Academy brought back what they got to see and what the courses entail.

According to sources, each student is equipped with a Surface tablet to allow for note taking, drawing, and programming. Students enrolled in these brief, informative courses are also given a development-ready Xbox One S to utilize as they learn the ropes of what it takes to become a gaming developer. It seems that this course is certainly going to be thorough, though. Sources also reported that their brief introduction to the course taught them many incredible skills, such as the basics of writing code, a primer on the Unity engine, and the marketing side of gaming like pitching potential game ideas to investors.

The emphasis is that students can easily continue to pursue the skills and programs they learn during the Xbox Academy courses at home. Unity is a free download, and every Xbox One can easily be turned into a development kit. Participants of the Xbox Academy program will be able to save any work done at the Microsoft Store onto a complimentary USB flash drive and continue working on their projects.”

Registration for the workshops is still currently open, so those who wish to partake in the event have a chance to sign up now. The Xbox Academy is currently open for up to 120 students, though Microsoft representatives have stated they hope to continue the program in the future.  This is a huge step for Microsoft, the company that already opened up a market to gamers for their Xbox Design Lab controllers. Now, the question remains: What else does this gaming giant have up their sleeves for customers in the near future?

Will the Xbox Academy be a huge success story for gamers? Thoughts on Microsoft expanding this program opportunity to other countries in the future? Make sure to join in on the discussion in the comments below, or hop on over to the official Don’t Feed the Gamers Disqus channel! Also, don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment news 24/7. As always … game on, friends!