Games Programming

In December 2024, the University of Bolton was granted permission by the Office for Students (OfS) to change its name to the University of Greater Manchester with immediate effect. While we work to update our systems, you may see both names used in the information we provide.

Interested in using your talent for maths and physics in the interactive entertainment industry? Our Games Programming degree focuses on the technical aspects of games production for the PC, mobile and virtual reality games markets. We aim to equip you with the skills (especially programming in C++) to join this exciting and dynamic industry.

The global games industry continues to grow. Worth a projected $280 billion in 2024, this value is predicted to rise to over $360 billion by the end of 2027 (1). Games offers lucrative careers at the cutting-edge of technology and talented games programmers are always in demand in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Offering a broad education in games programming, design, development and technology, our Games Programming degree emphasises the technical aspects of game production. We aim for you to become a skilled programmer and you’ll use C++, the principal programming language in the games industry, at each stage of the course. We assume no prior knowledge of programming but a good knowledge of mathematics, especially algebra, will help you succeed on the course. We’ll guide and support you throughout your studies to help you master object orientated programming and design techniques and learn about advanced programming data structures and algorithms for game development.

Games and interactive applications are becoming more cinematic in look and feel so we teach maths and physics in a very practical way to help you learn to create 2D and 3D environments where behaviour and movement looks realistic. You’ll also have opportunities to gain experience of multi-platform programming and artificial intelligence techniques used in the development of efficient and robust games.

(1) https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-media/video-games/worldwide/ accessed on 23 April 2024