Games Development (Professional Placement Year)

Turn your love of games into a career with our hands-on, industry-focused Games Development course.

• Build a diverse portfolio of games and playful experiences that showcases your talents and inspires curiosity.

• Learn new creative and technical skills by making experimental and imaginative games that push boundaries.

• Develop essential and in-demand skills: collaboration, adaptability, and professional practice.

Whether you're interested in the artistic, technical or production side of gaming, our Games Development course prepares you for lots of different career opportunities in the global games industry. You'll develop the creative, computing and professional skills needed to turn your unique game ideas into exciting published titles.

We are interested in the games you want to make, in our practical workshops and game development labs we will help you make games that are expressive, impactful and that tell great stories. If you see your future in indie gaming, AAA or beyond, this forward-thinking game design degree will encourage you to reimagine what games are, and what they can do.

More about the Professional Placement Year
A Professional Placement Year (PPY), traditionally known as a sandwich year, is where you undertake a period of work with an external organisation for between 9-13 months. The placement occurs between your second and final years of undergraduate study. You can engage in multiple placements to make up the total time and are required to source the placement(s) yourself, with support from the Careers team.

Year one: build a tabletop game and a portfolio of mini game prototypes. Key topics include: understanding game concepts, rules, and the psychology of gaming; history of gaming and games theory; introduction to game engines and coding; graphic design, illustration for 2D character, and level design; prototyping and testing games concepts. Year two: build a 2D, a 3D, and a VR game. Key topics include: technical development and design skills for both 2D and 3D games; writing interactive narratives, marketing and entrepreneurship, 3D modelling and animation, web games, sound design, extended realities working with the Bristol VR Lab. Final Year: build a serious game, a tangible game, and a playful interactive entertainment experience. Key topics include: serious games; data visualisation; AI and machine learning; tangible games; real-time interaction using game engine technologies; commercial games studio workflows.

Our Games Development degree is entirely coursework assessed. You’ll work on games and playful experiences of varying form and focus, as well as portfolios of art assets, code, sound design, and experiments in interaction.

Creative and technical work is supported by assessments that use communicational tools used in both the games industry and arts practice. You’ll compile game design documents and QA records, write contextual summaries and reflective accounts, deliver pitches, conduct UX (user experience) sessions and collaborate on industry showcase events.