Course summary

Games development is a rapidly growing industry, with the UK market for video games reaching a record £7bn in 2020, an increase of 30% (UKIE). The games industries workforce grew 25% in December 2021 (TIGA). These figures are looking to keep increasing as the industry shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Games Development is a multifaceted area of study that allows for numerous areas of specialisation; there’s a wide range of careers from the more artistic asset, environment, and character designing to the more technical sides involving programming and developing the actual mechanics of the game. All these roles are also enveloped by overarching game theory, which helps steer the direction of what is being created to provide interactive and compelling experiences for the user. We uniquely benefit from being located in Bedford as a number of popular game studios such as Creative Assembly, Team17, Jagex, Warner Bros. Games and Sumo Digital are all less than 25 miles away. London also being a short train journey, which hosts many games studios such as Rocksteady and Sony Studios (PlayStation). We are also soon to be hosts to the new Sunset Studios located just to the South-East, where the skills and knowledge gained through studying Games Design are more than transferable to more traditional film and TV production. This course is delivered by a range of practicing specialists within the Games Design/Development and related industries along with visiting professionals from Games Design companies and publishers. Students of the course will have access to well-equipped studios, one-to-one tutorials and feedback, and industry relevant softwares. The course consists of two assessment units which cover the development of core aspects of the industry: contextual knowledge, idea generation and development, technical knowledge and skills, professional practice, and communication.