Course summary

Join Scotland's top game design programme at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. With industry-leading facilities and hands-on projects, our MDes in Games Design and Development offers you the opportunity to turn your game ideas into reality. Led by an award-winning indie developer, you'll acquire sought-after skills in game design, 3D graphics, UI/UX, and more. Our expert faculty will guide you through gaining real-world experience in designing, building, and releasing your own games. Design your own game The Master of Design (MDes) programme in Games Design and Development provides students with a unique opportunity to design and develop their own computer game to the highest industry standards while gaining hands-on experience with the product lifecycle, gathering technical and professional skills, and further practical entrepreneurship knowledge. It is the perfect stepping stone to enable students to smoothly transition to design and programming roles in the games industry. Our new Games Studio: This Masters degree benefits from the utilisation of our purpose-built Games Studio inside our £19m innovation and entrepreneurship GRID building. As there are only a handful of universities worldwide capable of offering such design-led programmes, this studio will provide students with a unique mixture of practical supervised studio learning experience, technical know-how, and an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship approach to Games production. Programme structure: This Masters degree aims to concentrate on delivering a practical learning experience where students will be able to design game ideas, program prototypes, and fully release/publish their own game concepts at the end of their studies. The structure of this Masters degree concentrates in three aspects of games development: design, programming and entrepreneurship. As so, this programme includes two studio-based courses which are aligned with the industrial games development life cycle. Furthermore, there are two entrepreneurial components to the programme to allow students to fully exploit their creations in industry or by launching their own spin-out bespoke indie studios. Our Expertise & Facilities • Led by BAFTA Winning Games Developer Thomas Methven: indie developer of SOLAS 128 • MDES Graduate showcase event: Every year, we organize a graduate showcase, providing our students with an opportunity to demonstrate the games they've created to both the university and industry professionals. • Built on Industrial engagement. • Heriot-Watt University boasts a distinguished history of over five decades dedicated to the research and teaching of Computer Science. • State-of-the-Art Labs: To facilitate hands-on learning, we have created state-of-the-art labs based in the Robotarium as well as at the GRID; including the Games & Design studio and the universities first VR labs. Employability Potential career paths -Game User Experience (UX) Designer: Enhances the overall user experience and interface design of games. -Game Developer: Develops the code and software components of video games. -Game Artist: Designs visual assets, including characters, environments, and animations. -Game Producer: Manages the development process, ensuring games are completed on time and within budget. -Game Writer/Narrative Designer: Crafts the story and narrative elements of video games. -Game Sound Designer: Creates and implements audio elements, such as music, sound effects, and voiceovers. -Game AI Programmer: Develops artificial intelligence systems to control non-player characters and game behaviours.