Game Design and Development (with placement year)

Part of Screen Yorkshire’s Connected Campus group, our four-year Games Design and Development degree programme has been carefully designed to meet the demands of the contemporary gaming industry.

With a particular emphasis on the blend between the technical and creative aspects of games design, you’ll be taught the core theories that underpin the discipline and use these to guide your practical work and, in turn, gain the vocational experience needed to embark on a career in this fast-growing industry.

Through the course you’ll gain a robust understanding of areas such as:

• Game play

• Technical computer animation

• Game programming

• Script programming

You’ll be taught by an industry experienced team of academics including Carlton Reeve, a consultant for commercial AR games and Peter Chapman, who runs his own digital agency. And you’ll benefit from talks and workshops delivered by industry experts like Michael Ogden, Iki Ikram and Ben Smith. The high level of industry knowledge and insight gained here will provide you with the knowledge base you need to emerge as a confident and competent graduate.

You’ll have regular access to state-of-the-art facilities like the six camera Motion Capture Suite and technical equipment which you can use to put theory into practice and enhance your skillset. You can borrow equipment for you own personal projects too.

In your final year you will undertake a bespoke studio project, where you can collaborate with other disciplines and put theory into practice, whilst showcasing the skills you’ve developed throughout the course.

The department has close links with a number of prominent organisations. This includes the resident Working Academy placement agency and Game Republic (the Yorkshire games industry association), of which we are member. With access to such prestigious partners you’ll have plenty of opportunities to gain extracurricular experience that will enable you to emerge as a highly desired and capable graduate.

Placement
The course is underpinned by the opportunity to undertake a placement year giving you the opportunity to gain real experience and professional training within your degree in order to kick-start your career.

After completing your placement you’ll return to complete the final year of the programme, and apply all you’ve learnt to studies. Many students continue their relationship with their placement employers - working for them part-time, developing final year projects with them or going back to them into graduate positions.