Masters Degrees (Game Programming)

Designed to build on the computing knowledge gained in your undergraduate studies, this MSc will enable you to move into games programming and gain an in-depth knowledge of related specialised areas. The award covers a range of topics including: 3D graphics using DirectX, Artificial Intelligence, Physics, Low level PlayStation 3 programming, and software engineering for games.

Practical classes are taught using new high spec computers, mobile devices, and games consoles including the Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. By studying on this award, you will be at the heart of these exciting and innovative developments, and equipped for a future and promising career in this area. There is also the opportunity to complete a placement in the games industry.

Accreditation

BCS accredited: CITP Further Learning and CEng/CSci partial fulfilment.

Course content

Taught modules cover game engine programming and architecture, real-time graphics for games, low level techniques and optimisation, game artificial intelligence, concurrent and multiplayer game programming, professional games development, and research techniques. The main programming language is C++.

Throughout your course you will create games for a variety of computer and console platforms, mobile devices, and networked systems, both individually and in teams, building up a portfolio of work to show to potential employers. You will learn research methods and write a research proposal, and will then undertake a dissertation in an area of game programming which interests you.

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This course, one of a suite of digital media courses, enables you to study professional digital media practice in a microstudio environment with a focus on the programming skills necessary for the field of games development. Through a student-centred project-based curriculum, you work as a games programmer to develop your specialist skills while working as part of an interdisciplinary team with students from across the full programme.

-This course has been developed in consultation with our industry panel, which includes representatives from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, DreamWorks and Samsung Design Europe. We are also an active member of TIGA, the games industry's representative body, and the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA).
-This course has been designed to utilise the best digital media expertise and resources from across the University, and will prepare you for employment in the digital media industry, where teams of specialists work together to develop and author innovative digital media projects.

What will you study?

You will design and create computer games, alone and in teams, using industry-standard production management tools and techniques that stimulate a professional environment of collaboration to deliver a product on time. You will also develop vertical-slice prototypes using new technologies, such as computer vision and stereoscopy, and will learn how to present yourself to potential employers through your professional presence and portfolio.

Assessment

Vertical slices, prototypes, demos, videos, presentations, design documents, essays.

Work placement scheme

Kingston University has set up a scheme that allows postgraduate students in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing to include a work placement element in their course starting from September 2017. The placement scheme is available for both international and home/EU students.

-The work placement, up to 12 months; is optional.
-The work placement takes place after postgraduate students have successfully completed the taught portion of their degree.
-The responsibility for finding the placement is with the student. We cannot guarantee the placement, just the opportunity to undertake it.
-As the work placement is an assessed part of the course for international students, this is covered by a student's tier 4 visa.

Details on how to apply will be confirmed shortly.

PlayStation First

Kingston University is an educational partner of Sony through PlayStation First.

Course structure

Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.

Modules
-Digital Studio Practice
-Media Specialist Practice
-Real-time Programming
-3D Game Programming
-Digital Media Final Project

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This course is one of the first of its kind in the UK and has a graduate employment rate of 97%. It prepares you for careers as software architects, project managers or software developers. You may also operate as a software consultant or do further research.

In collaboration with a number of high profile industrial leaders and computer game innovators, we have created an advanced course producing graduates with the potential to become future leaders in the global computer games industry.

The course is for honours graduates in computing science or a discipline with significant computing and/or mathematical content, such as computing, information systems, mathematics, engineering, systems engineering or physics.

You will benefit from:

-An industrial advisory board made up from high profile UK games companies

-Industrial placements at leading game studios

-Industry-sponsored prizes each year in categories such as Best Team, Best Project and Best Student

-A technical focus on game engineering

Newcastle has a first class record of research related to the development of computer game technologies and 97% of our graduates are in employment following graduation. Our graduates have gone on to work as programmers for a wide range of companies including:

-Ubisoft Reflections

-Fluid Pixel

-Nosebleed Interactive

The staff delivering this course have international reputations for their contributions to the fields of online gaming, graphics and simulation, artificial intelligence, programming and human computer interaction.

You will be encouraged to play a full part in the life of the School, participating in seminars delivered by distinguished external speakers. The experienced and helpful staff at Newcastle will be happy to offer support with all aspects of your course from admissions to graduation and developing your career beyond.

Delivery

The course is available over one year full time, leading to an MSc award. We will equip you with the skills and knowledge required to develop computer game software. We will also provide an international perspective on advancements in computer game development.

There are three phases in the course. Phase one (60 credits) consists of 20 hours per week of lectures. We will introduce core knowledge and skills through modules in:

-Programming

-Graphics

-Game technologies

You will also undertake a substantial amount of supervised and unsupervised practical work.

During phase two (30 credits), we emphasise the practice of computer game development through modules in:

-Research methods for gaming innovations

-Entrepreneurial skills for the game industry

-The development and assessment of an actual computer game (team exercise)

Phase three (90 credits) is the individual system development or research project.

Accreditation

We have a policy of seeking British Computer Society (BCS) accreditation for all of our degrees, so you can be assured that you will graduate with a degree that meets the standards set out by the IT industry. Studying a BCS-accredited degree provides the foundation for professional membership of the BCS on graduation and is the first step to becoming a chartered IT professional.

Our Computer Game Engineering MSc has Creative Skillset Accreditation as well as being officially recognised as a NVidia CUDA Training Center.

The School of Computing Science at Newcastle University is an accredited and a recognised Partner in the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science.

Facilities:

You will have dedicated computing facilities in the School of Computing. You will have access to the latest tools for system analysis and development, as well as an allocated PC and desk space in a project lab. For certain projects, special facilities for networking can be set up.

You will enjoy access to specialist IT facilities to support your studies, including:

• a high specification PC with gaming quality discrete graphics, processing unit and dual monitors 
• Sony Playstation development kit and software
• NVidia development kit and software
• Kinect 
• Oculus Rift 
• Vive VR systems
• the latest consoles within the project lab
• multiple large video screens for game demos and presentations

We have moved to the new £58m purpose-built Urban Sciences Building. Our new building offers fantastic new facilities for our students and academic community. The building is part of Science Central, a £350 million project bringing together:

• academia
• the public sector
• communities
• business and industry.

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Program overview

The master of science degree in game design and development explores the entertainment technology landscape, along with other related areas of software development. The program has its technical roots in the computing and information science disciplines, while simultaneously covering the breadth of the game development field through course work in topics such as computer graphics, game engines, interactive narrative, and game design. The degree is specifically for students who aspire to careers within the professional gaming industry or a related field such as simulation, edutainment, or visualization.

This is a two-year, on-campus, cohort-based program in which students are admitted through a portfolio review process. During the second year, students form development teams that construct a working game engine and software title as the program capstone experience. This requirement includes both individual and group expectations. The capstone culminates in a defense before program faculty, as well as a public exhibition. Combined, these requirements provide a unique and comprehensive educational experience for individuals who aspire to a career in the game development industry.

Plan of study

The program's curriculum consists of required courses, a choice of five advanced electives, and a capstone experience.

Capstone experience

During the second year, students complete a team-based capstone experience where students present and defend their work. This presentation includes a faculty review, which constitutes the capstone defense, a public presentation, and a demonstration.

Curriculum

Game design and development, MS degree, typical course sequence:
First Year
-Game Development Processes
-Game Design
-Gameplay and Prototyping
-Colloquium in Game Design and Development
-Game Industry Themes and Perspectives
-Advanced Electives
Second Year
-Capstone Design
-Advanced Electives
-Game Industry Themes and Perspectives
-Capstone Development

See website for further details of available electives: https://www.rit.edu/programs/game-design-and-development-ms

Other admission requirements

-Submission of a portfolio and/or scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required. If you choose to submit a portfolio it should include evidence of individual and group projects (clearly marked as such) relevant to the area you wish to study within the degree program.
-Complete a graduate application.
-International applicants whose native language is not English must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A minimum score of 570 (paper-based) or 88 (Internet-based) is required. International applicants also are required to submit scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).

Due to the cohort nature of the program, students are admitted in the fall semester only. Admission to the program is highly competitive. While GRE scores are not required for domestic students, students may submit scores to strengthen their application. Those applicants with a GPA below 3.25 are required to submit GRE scores.

Additional information

Prerequisites:
Students are expected to have at least one year of significant programming experience in a current object-oriented language—preferably C++ or Java—and a solid working knowledge of website development and interactive multimedia concepts. If students do not have these prerequisites, additional course work may be recommended to bridge any educational gaps.

Maximum time limit:
University policy requires that graduate programs be completed within seven years of the student's initial registration for courses in the program. Bridge courses are excluded.

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*Subject to validation

• APPLICATIONS OPEN. Contact course leader, Dan Mayers, on [email protected] if you have any questions.
• Gain industry specific experience by using real world workflow methodologies, deadlines and constraints.
• Work on projects with a range of industry partners including Ubisoft, Dreadnaught Studios, Miracle Tea Studios, Ipswich Games Hub.
• Unique partnership with Iron Crown Enterprises, publishers of the Rolemaster, Spacemaster, HARP and HARP-SF role play systems.
• Widen your career opportunities with links and project briefs from companies including Derivco, Coderus, Conga and Orbital Media.
• Open to graduates from a variety of backgrounds.

Introduction

The Msc Games Development course provides students with a higher-level understanding and direct professional experience through a multidisciplinary approach across commercial game projects. 

This course is ideal for graduates who have completed our BA (Hons) Computer Games Design or BSc (Hons) Computer Games Programming undergraduates degree, as well as those who have graduated from other related technical and creative subject areas who are wanting to enter the video games industry.

We have collaborative partnerships in place with community organisations and employers including commercial and third sector organisations. 

Students will be exposed to work on commercial games, providing them with an understanding of business and enterprise as well as preparing students for working within a commercial studio setting. 

One of our modules allows students to link up with the Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre (IWIC), providing them with access to more facilities and covering a range of business-related topics in connection with games development.

Course modules

Development Management (mandatory)

This module provides students with industry standard management methodologies and tools used to run team game developments. 

Visual Scripting (mandatory)

In this module. students learn how to develop games using visual scripting tools at high and low levels, depending on their discipline and background.

Group Project 1 - Multiple Rapid Prototyping (mandatory)

For this group project, students concept and rapidly develop game ideas, learning how to work efficiently as a team.

Group Project 2 (mandatory)

In this module, students will work on a longer 12-week development project. 

Business Development (mandatory)

This moduled covers a range of core business skills relevant to both the independent and large scale development studios. This will be delivered by the Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre (IWIC) where students will have access to the Entrepreneurial Programme as well as unlimited access to the IWIC facilities. 

Final Project (mandatory)

The Final Project involves independent learning as an extended dissertation covering a detailed exploration of an element of the games industry. 

Research Methods (mandatory)

In this module, students will learn rigorous academic and commercial research skills.

Career opportunities

Work-based practice is embedded throughout the duration of the course. All modules will relate to work-based learning, relating to commercial management processes or understanding production within a working environment. This will enhance employability and give graduates a greater understanding of games development within the work place. 

Graudates can progress in to a range of careers including: Game Programmer, Games Designer, Games Artist, Quality Assurance, Serious Games Developer and Gamification Developer to name a few.

Facilities and Resources

The MSc Game Development course will have access to the Eclipse Suite where students can access the facilities on specific days for independent working and group projects.

Students can benefit from a dedicated lab, access to two other game development labs and a range of game development hardware including, Oculus Rift, Emotive EPOC+ Brain interface, Leap motion, Myo, Phidget components for building custom game controllers, a range of mobile phones and tablets to test your games on.

Students will also have access to a common room area for MSc students and a custom games cabinet in which to run student games.

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The Applied Studies Program (ASI) is a 12 month practicum that provides you, as a graduate of a technical program, with the opportunity to enhance your skills by participating in an experiential workplace paid internship program at the Army Learning Support Centre (ALSC) at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

The multi-disciplinary platform will focus on the continuation of your technical studies and is designed to give you experience in your field of study with the opportunity to develop your leadership potential.

It's the next step in your career, one that can open doors needed for you to achieve your dreams by helping you gain experience, enhance your skills and the opportunity to network.

Internships are offered in the following fields of study:
-3D Modeling, Animation and Production
-Administration Support
-Flash Programming
-Game Programming
-Graphic Design
-IT Support
-Photography
-Video/Film Production
-Web Development

The Work Environment

The Army Learning Support Centre (ALSC) integrates industry standard technologies to develop advanced training for the military. The ALSC designs and develops distance learning, 3D models, gaming applications, animations, graphic print media, videos and photography to help modernize army training.

The facilities are among the best in the country to include state-of-the-art technology and equipment; 3D print capability, Oculus technology, motion chairs and motion capture systems.

You will work daily in a production environment that uses the same software, processes and techniques that industry studios employ. You will work in a team environment as a contributing member to the success of ALSC projects and the opportunity to learn new skills while in the program.

What to Expect with the Academic Component

To enhance the technical training you already possess, you’ll focus on the following areas of study. These soft skills are important in your day to day activities and will give you added skills to succeed in industry. You will learn through a combination of online and in-class sessions at NBCC Fredericton.
-Health and Safety
-Human Relations
-Organizational Management
-Personal Development
-Project Management
-Quality Management
-Verbal Communication
-Written Communication Techniques

Mission Complete

Upon successful completion of the prescribed curriculum, you will receive a post-graduate diploma in Applied Studies Internship and one year experience as a member of the ALSC within the Department of National Defence.

You will also have the option to apply for the Mentorship program, which will give you another year in the program. The mentorship program focuses on mentoring/coaching and gives you the opportunity to learn these skills while applying them in a work environment. These skills are sought after in industry and will further enhance your leadership capability.

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Course Duration

Full-time (Sep): 12 months

Course Summary

MSc Video Game Enterprise and Production is a year-long Masters-level course for the next generation of games industry entrepreneurs and producers. We give people who want to work in games an in-depth experience of the full game development process combined with all the hard-edged business skills they need to run a small games business or manage a studio production. Employers of our graduates include Rockstar North, Traveller’s Tales, Creative Assembly and Exient.

You'll get specialist skills training, mentoring and support from leading game developers, artists, producers and business owners, with experience at such big-name developers as Eurocom, Electronic Arts and Freestyle Games, while Programme Director Zuby Ahmed founded his own company, SmashMouth Games. The course is delivered in a series of ‘boot camps’ followed by one-to-one support, studio based game development and project delivery.

Employment Oppportunity

Successful students will be prepared for roles in production and design; more specifically as project managers, scrum masters and assistant producers within the games industry. They will also be able to work in product development, as product owners, as designers/scripters or in game and business analytics, and will also be confident and able to set up their own video games business.

Previous graduates now work in roles including mission scripter at Rockstar North, associate producer at Rockstar London, assistant producer at Exient and assistant producer at Traveller’s Tales.

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-Explore the most advanced studio techniques, technologies and processes at the forefront of current music production
-Unleash your creative potential and cultivate your own individual style to produce original arrangements, mixes, re-mixes and mastering work
-Deliver comprehensive solutions and support for live sound in a variety of performance settings
-On this postgraduate degree you will create your own A/V interfaces, plug-ins, and programming codes

Why choose this course?

Music specialising in Audio Programming is designed to provide industry-relevant postgraduate education aimed at forming creative professional for the audio, production, and post-production industry, who wish to pursue careers as creative Audio Engineers or Producers within recording, production or as software developers, consultants or audio-media specialists. Students take hands-on sessions in the University's state-of-the-art facilities, including a top-class SSL studio, guided by dedicated tutors with significant industry experience. The postgraduate curriculum covers all the most relevant and current skills of the field, and sessions and assessment are designed to reproduce, as far as possible and appropriate, the realities of the commercial environment.

We are one of the largest music department in the UK, offering a rich portfolio of forward-looking music programmes uniquely designed to develop the most relevant skills in the current industry. The environment is friendly and supportive, and students benefit from being part of a large community of creatives in all fields: from film, to new media, performance, and fine arts.

Our top-class facilities include:
-2 labs, each with 36 workstations dual monitor Apple Intel
-Large recording studio with latest SSL AWS 900+ SE
-Studio with Yamaha 02R/96
-3 monitoring spaces for surround sound
-Dubbing suite for audio-to-video work
-Foley studio for sound design work
-Sony Game studio
-Multimedia studios
-Anechoic chamber
-TV studio
-460-seat state-of-the-art performance venue with A/V recording facilities

Careers

When you graduate from these awards you will be ideally positioned to act as an interface between various music technologies and composers/producers. You may also consider a range of related positions such as lecturer, technical editor for music technology publications and other similar professions in the music industry or consider further study at doctoral level.

Teaching methods

Lecture, seminars and tutorials are typically scheduled over two consecutive days a week, plus some extra sessions for particular workshops, performance and recording. In addition to scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in self-directed study and studio practice.

Structure

Core Modules
-Creative Economies
-Creative Music Production (Discourse / Reflection)
-Major Study:Music Projects
-Practice 1: Studio Technology, Practices and Processes
-Practice 2: Audio Programming
-Research and Enquiry

Optional
-Creative Economies (Online)
-Research and Enquiry (Online)

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Computer games are expected to reach a global revenue of $111bn in 2015; yet over half of the UK’s video games employers reported a lack of suitably-skilled graduates in 2011. Both for entertainment and for more serious purposes such as virtual reality training, computer games, gamification and games intelligences are increasingly important in today’s world. This is your opportunity to turn your passion into a career.

At Essex we specialise in virtual worlds, machine learning, artificial intelligence and high-level games design and development. On our course, you develop both theoretical and practical knowledge of computer games. Our flexible approach allows you to fill gaps in your knowledge and brush up on a variety of languages, making sure you’re ready to bring your designs to life.

You explore topics including:
-Game design
-Game AI
-3D games development
-Mobile app programming
-Physics-based games

Our School is a community of scholars leading the way in technological research and development. Today’s computer scientists are creative people who are focused and committed, yet restless and experimental. We are home to many of the world’s top scientists, and our work is driven by creativity and imagination as well as technical excellence.

We are ranked Top 10 in the UK in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, with more than two-thirds of our research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent (REF 2014).

Professional accreditation

This degree is accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).This accreditation is increasingly sought by employers, and provides the first stage towards eventual professional registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng).

Our expert staff

The University of Essex was the birthplace of the ‘virtual world’. Multi-User Dungeons (MUD) – multi-player, real-time virtual worlds – were created by our students, including Richard Bartle, who still teaches Computer Games here today. Richard was also included in Geek.com’s list of the most influential game developers of all time.

Our research staff also include Professor Victor Callaghan, who researches immersive reality, creative science and education technology; Dr Michael Gardner, who researches virtual reality systems and mixed-reality environments; and Dr Adrian Clark, who works on computer graphics and augmented reality.

More broadly, our research covers a range of topics, from materials science and semiconductor device physics, to the theory of computation and the philosophy of computer science, with most of our research groups based around laboratories offering world-class facilities.

Our impressive external research funding stands at over £4 million and we participate in a number of EU initiatives and undertake projects under contract to many outside bodies, including government and industrial organisations.

Specialist facilities

We are one of the largest and best resourced computer science and electronic engineering schools in the UK. Our work is supported by extensive networked computer facilities and software aids, together with a wide range of test and instrumentation equipment.
-Essex is one of three co-founding universities of the new Centre for Doctoral Training in Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence
-We have six laboratories that are exclusively for computer science and electronic engineering students. Three are open 24/7, and you have free access to the labs except when there is a scheduled practical class in progress
-All computers run either Windows 7 or are dual boot with Linux
-Software includes Java, C++, Perl, MySQL, Matlab, Microsoft Office, Visual Studio, and Project
-Students have access to CAD tools and simulators for chip design (Xilinx) and computer networks (OPNET)
-We also have specialist facilities for research into areas including non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, intelligent environments, robotics, optoelectronics, video, RF and MW, printed circuit milling, and semiconductors

Your future

Graduates of our School go on to work for giants in the field such as Intel and Panasonic, but the corporate route isn’t for everyone. Some of the most exciting and innovative work in the field is being developed by small start-up companies. Our optional business module focuses on developing your entrepreneurial spirit, teaching you how to apply your technical and creative skills to your own venture.

Our recent graduates have progressed to a variety of senior positions in industry and academia.

We also work with the university’s Employability and Careers Centre to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Example structure

-Game Design
-Game Artificial Intelligence
-Physics-Based Games
-Mobile & Social Application Programming
-MSc Project and Dissertation
-Professional Practice and Research Methodology
-Group Project (Incorporating a Game Jam)
-Programming in Python (optional)
-Intelligent Systems and Robotics (optional)
-Machine Learning and Data Mining (optional)
-Text Analytics (optional)
-Virtual Worlds (optional)
-High-Level Games Development (optional)
-Natural Language Engineering (optional)
-Creating and Growing a New Business Venture (optional)

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This MSc programme focuses on the development of sophisticated computer graphics applications and on the development of tools commonly used in the creation of content for these applications. It provides students with opportunity to develop important skills necessary for employment in this sector. They will use their expertise to, for example, develop interactive graphical scenes and deploy up to date techniques to implement real-time and offline visual effects.

Course Overview

This programme will equip students with skills at a high academic level and also crucially enable them to practically implement their knowledge because of the ‘hands-on’ emphasis of the programme.

The main themes of the programme are:
-Current and emerging algorithms and techniques used in film visual effects and games programming
-Approaches used to generate off-line visual effects
-Approaches used to generate real-time interactive games

The first theme develops in the student the necessary skills required to implement algorithms and techniques used to generate realistic scenes. These concepts will be explored in detail.

The second theme addresses the need for students to identify, evaluate and implement suitable methods to solve specific problems related to creating off-line visual effects.

The third theme recognises the need to solve these problems using approaches optimised for real-time computer games development and develops in the student the requisite skills.

Modules

-Animation Systems Development (20 credits)
-Artificial Intelligence for Games & VFX (20 credits)
-GPU Shader Development (20 credits)
-Leadership and Management (20 credits)
-Research Methods and Data Analysis (20 credits)
-Visual Simulation (20 credits)
-Major Project (60 credits)

Key Features

Applicants for this programme will have an interest in computer graphics and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). The main themes of the programme are current and emerging algorithms and techniques used in film visual effects and games programming, approaches used to generate off-line visual effects and approaches used to generate real-time interactive games. This also includes the development/enhancement of tools used in the CGI and animation industry. Graduates will be concerned with the discipline of developing software and applications using high level programming languages. They will also be experienced in creating custom animated scenes using the powerful scripting languages of industry standard applications such as Maya and Houdini software. Graduates will have an advanced understanding of computer graphics, GPU shader development, and visual simulation methods making use of modern artificial intelligence and simulation techniques. Graduated are likely to find employment either within the film VFX industry, computer games or traditional software engineering sectors.

Assessment

An Honours Degree (2.2 or above) or advanced qualification in Computer Science or cognate discipline from a UK University or recognised overseas institution, or industrial experience in Computer Networking and an Honours Degree.

Where English is not your first language, we ask that you hold an Academic IELTS test with a score of at least 6.0 (no element less than 5.5) or TOEFL with a minimum score of 550 (213 for computer based test).

Career Opportunities

It is expected that graduates would seek positions such as:
-Software Engineers
-Senior Software Engineers
-App Developers
-CGI Special Effects Programmers
-Games Programmers
-Lead Programmers
-Render Manager
-VFX Programmer
-VFX Technical Directors

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This is a technically oriented course for programmers interested in the technology of games. It is suitable for people seeking employment in programming roles within the games industry.

The course focuses on the implementation of real-time 3D applications using the C++ programming language in order to develop your understanding of 3D rendering and shader programming techniques.

You also study low-level hardware architectures for optimisation, including the novel architectures of games consoles and how to exploit them. We teach you project management techniques, including the stages of game production and the structure and operation of the games industry.

This course benefits from strong industry links with companies like Sony Computer Entertainment and Sumo Digital and industry accreditation from Creative Skillset and PlayStation®First. The lecturers have many decades of commercial games industry experience between them and share a passion for developing the next generation of talent.

PlayStation®First

This course is part of the PlayStation®First Academic Partnership Programme offered by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and has been awarded PlayStation®First status by fostering best practise in game related development skills across PlayStation® platforms. The programme provides unique access to PlayStation® professional development hardware (dev kits) and software (SDK) to equip students with industry relevant game development skills across PlayStation®4, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita and PlayStation®Portable.

The Steel Minions

Sheffield Hallam University has its own commercially-licensed game studio which provides workplace simulation to students on the University's games degrees. It was the first university studio in the UK to release its own PlayStation® title and has a range of PlayStation, iOS and Android games in development.

Professional recognition

This course is accredited by Creative Skillset (the Creative Industries' Sector Skills Council) and TIGA (The Independent Game Developers Association).

Course structure

Postgraduate certificate modules

• C++ boot camp
• Graphics and animation
• Hardware-oriented software engineering
• Software studio planning

Postgraduate diploma modules

• Special techniques for graphics and animation
• Game development practice
• Multi-processing and parallel technologies

MSc modules

• Research methods
• Individual project

Assessment

• PgCert – continuous assessment
• PgDip – continuous assessment involving a large group-based industrial project
• MSc – 25% continuous assessment and 75% individual research project

Employability

Good games software graduates are in high demand, and our course has been developed to meet the needs of the booming entertainment software industry.

We actively support your collaboration with external companies on your practical software development projects. This gives you real experience while learning and could lead directly to you gaining a job with one of these companies.

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Take your computer game development skills to the next level. Study, plan, produce and test games in our specialist studios. Working alongside students from our Computer Games Development Art course, you’ll gain experience in multi-disciplinary working and create an advanced portfolio.

Your course will have a new home in Compass House, which will extend our campus along East Road. You’ll have the latest technology at your fingertips and be able to collaborate with other students on innovative projects to hone your skills.

The UK video games industry is worth £3.78 billion and there’s currently a recognised skills shortage of skilled games designers. If you have a first degree in computer science or a similar technical degree, our course will give you the skills to confidently create advanced level games.

Based in Cambridge, the heart of the UK’s games development industry, you’ll work in our Computer Game Development studio and hub, where you’ll create games both on your own and in teams, and gain the technical design skills to publish successfully across a range of platforms.

As well as furthering your development skills, you’ll also focus on games programming and tailor your research project so that you can concentrate on developing skills in an area that you’re passionate about.

We constantly focus on entrepreneurial opportunities, and sharing modules with our MA Computer Games Development (Art) means you’ll work with different strands of the games industry and meet and build your contacts ready for your career. Everything you design will also build into a valuable portfolio to help you secure your dream job when you graduate.

See the website http://www.anglia.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/computer-games-development-computing

Careers

It can take up to three years to create a game, all the way from initial concept to the finished product. One game can involve up to 200 professionals working as a team.

As a game developer, you could design the visual styling as well as how it plays. You could be involved with animating characters and objects, creating audio, programming, testing and producing.

Besides working in the leisure/entertainment sector, you could use your skills to develop ‘serious’ games. These are used in rehabilitation, education and training, defence, science, health, city planning and engineering.

You could also go into a career in marketing, teaching or general technology.

You’re also in the perfect position to continue your academic career and move up to our Computer Science PhD.

Modules & Assessment

Core modules:
• Games Programming
• Portfolio
• Games Development 1
• Games Development 2
• Research Methods
• Major Project

Assessment

We’ll ensure you’re on track through a combination of written and practical work, both as an individual and as team activities.

Where you'll study

The Faculty of Science & Technology is one of the largest of five faculties at Anglia Ruskin University. Whether you choose to study with us full- or part-time, on campus or at a distance, there’s an option whatever your level – from a foundation degree, to a BSc, MSc, PhD or professional doctorate.

Whichever course you pick, you’ll gain the theory and practical skills needed to progress with confidence. Join us and you could find yourself learning in the very latest laboratories or on field trips or work placements with well-known and respected companies. You may even have the opportunity to study abroad.

Everything we do in the faculty has a singular purpose: to provide a world-class environment to create, share and advance knowledge in science and technology fields. This is key to all of our futures.

Visit your faculty - http://www.anglia.ac.uk/science-and-technology

Where can I study?

Cambridge - Our campus is close to the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/student-life/life-on-campus/cambridge-campus

Specialist facilities

You’ll spend plenty of time in our Games Development Studio, which simulates a commercial working studio and features up-to-date hardware and software. We currently have a range of industry standard software including Unity 3D, Unreal Engine 4, Maya, 3ds Max, Microsoft Visual Studio and Photoshop, as well as GameMaker, 3DGameStudio, Adobe Flash and Action Script, Microsoft XNA Game Studio, GIMP, Blender, Fusion, and Audacity.

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Games development is the fastest growing entertainment industry in the world. Our MSc gives you the highly specialised set of skills needed to stay at the forefront of this demanding and constantly evolving field. This course is accredited by Creative Skillset who is the industry skills body for the Creative Industries including games, and it works with and for the Creative Industries to develop skills and talent, supporting productivity and employability.

Created with involvement from industry professionals, the course programme focuses on the technical aspects of game development and the underlying fundamentals of computer science. We cover a range of core concepts, including C++ programming, physics simulation, concurrency, advanced graphics, artificial intelligence, and game engine architecture. You will have use of our dedicated games development lab, equipped with the latest console development kits and top-spec PCs, plus access to HIVE — our multi-million pound virtual environment lab, which provides access to emerging and new technologies for computer interaction, data collection and visualisation.

The course begins in September each year and lasts twelve months. There are two trimesters of taught modules, followed by an individual dissertation project during the third trimester. There is an option to take an extra trimester – immediately before the dissertation, adding an extra three months of study but letting you gain insights into industry through a module based on commercial practice, typically working with commercial clients and software.

Studying Computer Science at Hull, you'll benefit from an excellent experience for students, with a supportive student community. We have an international reputation for our research activities, with a strong record of industrial and public grant funding. We are also affiliated with Microsoft’s DreamSpark programme, which allows you to access the latest Microsoft operating systems and development software for home use. Once registered with the department, you can download the software free of charge.

Study information

This MSC is designed to support students with various levels of computing and programming practice experience. However, it is particularly suited to those with significant experience of writing code.

The modules in the first trimester are designed to allow a smooth transition to postgraduate study, regardless of your background.

As a route into research, the programme supports the development of postgraduate technical skills, alongside critical research, analysis and planning activities.

In lectures you’ll benefit from a range of techniques, from interpreting complex ideas through interactive discussions, to live programming or other problem-solving demonstrations.

Core modules

• C++ Programming and Design
• Real Time Graphics
• Simulation and Artifical Intelligence
• Games Architecture and Concurrency
• Advanced Rendering and Virtual Environments
• Development Project

Optional modules

• Computer Science Software Development Practice extra trimester – pass/fail module based in SEED Software, working with commercial clients.
• The Industrial Experience optional 60-credit single trimester module extends the MSc to a 4-trimester length degree, enabling you to gain meaningful commercial experience

Dissertation

• Up to 20,000 words. There is the option of taking this module either in trimester 3 or trimester 4, depending on whether you take the Industrial Experience module

Teaching and learning

We place a strong emphasis on practical laboratory sessions. These will significantly develop your core computer science skills, and enhance your employability through exposure to commercial projects.

As teamwork plays a key role in commercial software development and has great value as an employable skill, group work is used in a number of modules.

Assessment

Practical coursework is the main form of assessment, and you will design, build and test software solutions to a variety of problems. This is complemented by written coursework. The largest assessment is the dissertation.

* All modules are subject to availability.

Future prospects

The MSc programme supports career development in a number of ways. These include a mix of modules focused on professional skills and a project involving group work, CV development and personal reflection. We have strong links with many of the UK's top game studios, including Electronics Arts, Sony and Microsoft, many of which recruit straight from our labs.

We also have a range of inspirational extra-curricular activities including the Three Thing Game, Imagine Cup Worldwide Software Development Challenge, Really Useful Seminars and Global Game Jam. They are designed to boost your CV and employability, and taking part costs very little.

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By studying this Masters, you’ll be well placed to join one of the most performance-driven applications of computer science – the multi-billion pound global games industry. As a graduate, you will work at the top-end of the games industry and will develop computer graphics on high-performance platforms, or write engines for the next generation of games.

Developed in collaboration with a prestigious steering group, this course will build on your computer science knowledge to specialise in computer graphics, where programmers must push computing resources to the limit, using deep understanding of architecture and high-performance programming to generate new levels of graphical realism and visual effects on cutting-edge hardware platforms.

You’ll gain proficiency in low-level programming, a thorough understanding of multi-core and many-core programming techniques, game engine and tool development techniques, and fundamental insight into graphics and the practical techniques used in games.

Designed to meet the needs of industry

You can be sure that what you learn will be the technical skills required by industry as this course has been developed in collaboration with a prestigious steering group from industry comprising:

• Barog Game Labs
• Double Eleven
• Epic Games
• NVIDIA
• Team 17
• Sumo Digital
• Weaseltron.

Members of our steering group will contribute to the delivery of the course ensuring that you learn the latest industry developments. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage directly with the games industry, through:

• co-curricula industry lectures
• visits to games development companies
• attending UK games events.

We are also a member of Game Republic, which is an industry-led professional games network that supports and promotes the Yorkshire and Northern England games sector. We hope that students of this course will take part in the Game Republic student showcase.

Specialist facilities

You will use workstations with high-end GPUs to act as DirectX12 and Vulkan games development platforms and have access to other specialist hardware including the latest Virtual Reality headsets for experimenting on. For learning games engine design and exploring new rendering techniques, students will be working with the source code of a leading game engine, Epic’s “Unreal Engine 4”.

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Serious games and virtual reality represent a large, and actively growing, industry – the application of modern games technology in a wide range of areas around medicine, training, education, security and beyond. While educational games already represent a multi-billion dollar global industry, the recent growth in virtual reality has seen predictions that this market will grow to $150 billion dollars by 2020 (Techcrunch, April 6, 2015).

The MSc provides students with the skills to become a key part of this explosive growth, and potential to become key innovators in this exciting and rapidly developing area. The MSc offers students with prior programming/scripting experience the transferable skills to design, develop and analyse games and simulations for a range of application areas and to conduct interdisciplinary research in the serious applications of games technology, particularly in healthcare, education and training.

As Virtual Reality and interaction technologies approach mainstream adoption, new opportunities for the application of immersive games technologies in engineering, medicine and in the home are putting games at the forefront of innovation worldwide.

At the School of Simulation and Visualisation we already have years of experience working on a wide range of serious games based projects for industrial, medical, heritage and education clients, building on our research and our expertise in 3D modeling and animation, motion capture technology and software development. We are pleased to be able to share our experience and expertise with this MSc.

Programme Structure:

Stage 1

Core Research Skills for Postgraduates

Games Programming

Serious Game Design and Research

School of Simulation and Visualisation Elective: Choose one from

Interactive Heritage Visualisation

Applications in Medical Visualisation

Stage 2

Motion Capture & Interaction

Audio for games & interactive applications

Serious Games Development

GSA Elective

Stage 3

MSc Research Project

Entry Qualifications:

You should have a Honours degree or equivalent professional practice in any of the following disciplines:

Computer science, computer graphics, computer programming, software development, mathematics, or physics

Computer games programming, game development, game design, game art, 3D modeling and animation, interactive systems

High calibre graduates from other disciplines may be considered if they are able to demonstrate an interest and ability in the field of serious games development.

IELTS 6.0 for overseas applicants for whom English is not their first language.

Scholarships and Funded Places:

Information on career development loans and financial support can be found in the fees and funding pages.

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