Your gaming career starts here
Are you driven by the prospect of an exciting career in gaming? If so, the UK offers an inspiring place to start your journey.
UK universities currently offer 215 gaming-related undergraduate and 40 postgraduate courses for you to choose from. You can develop your skills inside some outstanding state-of-the-art facilities through truly innovative teaching methods, with the guidance of some of the world's leading gaming talent. Essentially everything you need to get begin designing the next smash hit game!
With a global industry valued at £75 billion, the games industry is growing fast and offers ambitious new graduates opportunities all over the world. You could find yourself working on anything from innovative virtual reality training experiences to polishing ground-breaking cinema-style visuals or tweaking ultra-addictive mobile apps. The only limits are your imagination…
Search for undergraduate gaming courses (via UCAS)
Search for postgraduate gaming courses (via Prospects)
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What will you be learning?
As the scope of gaming expands to cater for new technologies and players, so too do the courses available and the skills they teach. Gaming platforms are broader than ever, from mobile and PC and console to Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, and courses in the UK provide all the skills you could need to go into any of them.
Depending on the university, courses can cover aspects of gaming in different ways.
GAME DESIGN
Game design courses will generally provide a range of understanding and skills, starting with game theory and moving into the practical side of things. Some offer state of the art games labs where you can experiment with technology such as motion capture.
PROGRAMMING
Some courses will focus more on development and programming from the start. These are aimed at students who know they want to work in the coding side of gaming.
MARKETING
Most courses have a marketing component to help you understand how games are marketed, but there are many opportunities to acquire the broader business skills necessary to set up and run your own studio too.
ESPORTS
Some universities provide specific modules looking at key areas of gaming, such as Esports, one of the fastest growing and lucrative parts of the industry.
With so many courses on offer, it’s up to you to find one offering the right balance of skills. Many will let you select specific modules you’re interested in, before letting you specialise as you go.
A number of courses across the UK are accredited with the support of TIGA, the UK’s leading authority in gaming, who help to ensure graduates emerge with a full spread of 21st-century skills needed to thrive. Many gaming companies will go straight to these courses and the events they run to scout the next generation of multi-skilled talent for their design studios.
The UK gaming scene
The UK’s computer games industry is the sixth biggest in the world, and the second largest in Europe, worth £4.33 billion. Classic hits created here in the past range from vintage gems like Lemmings to Tomb Raider and the most successful game of all time, Grand Theft Auto V.
Today there are over 2,000 gaming companies in the UK, employing a range of world-class talent to expand the possibilities of the medium across every format. While those products are ready to be played by people around the world, there’s no shortage of gamers on their doorstep. 32.4 million people play games in the UK, so it’s no surprise that the UK has cultivated a diverse array of gaming events. From epic expos to fantasy and sci-fi festivals, in-depth developer talks, vintage gameathons, eSports marathons, workshops and weird and wonderful gaming-comedy mashups like Wi-Fi Wars, there’s something for everyone. Many of them are run, or partnered with university departments, and wherever you are in the country you’re never far from a get-together of like-minded fellow gamers.
All of which makes the UK the perfect environment for any student who wants to immerse themselves in game culture and learn from the best.
Ready to play?
Search for undergraduate gaming courses (via UCAS)
Search for postgraduate gaming courses (via Prospects)