Games Software Development – MComp

At a glance

Learn the skills required to pursue a career as a software developer in the competitive games industry on this respected course. Designed in collaboration with top national and international games companies, it is one of only a small number of industry-accredited undergraduate courses in game programming in the UK.

Key points
• One of only a small number of industry-accredited UK undergraduate game programming courses.• Gain a competitive advantage with a one-year placement at one our partner organisations.
• Work on real-world projects in our commercial game development studio.
• Complete a masters-level research project to shape the future of the industry.

What is games software development?
Games Software Development is a course for game programmers. Programming games is one of the most challenging and rewarding fields of Software Engineering, demanding a strong grasp of programming, mathematics and hardware architectures combined with a creative passion for games and an ability to work within interdisciplinary teams.

This course

This course is for people interested in the technology of games and who would like to work in the games development industry or related areas. It is an integrated masters course which provides more depth of study and increased industrial involvement than a BSc honours degree.

You study the skills and techniques that are demanded by the industry, such as • programming • software engineering and mathematics • software optimisation and using dedicated computer hardware for games. The course is one of only a small number in the country accredited by the British Computer Society and Skillset .

During the first two years of the course you work alongside the students on the BSc version of the course before going on to work on more advanced projects.

As a student, your career prospects are enhanced by the course’s long established relationships with global and national games companies such as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, SN Systems and Sumo Digital. These companies support the course by providing equipment, inputting into the course design and ensuring we teach the very latest topics.

Our excellent facilities include one of Europe's largest PlayStation® 3 teaching labs and the Digital Design Centre which boasts six specialist computers suites. As well as working on Sony's consoles, you can work on mobile platforms such as iOS and Android, as well as a strong emphasis on DirectX: the API used on PCs and Microsoft's Xbox consoles.

Once you’ve developed your skills in industry-standard facilities, you apply what you’ve learnt in to industry with a 12-15 month third-year placement, gaining important real world experience before you graduate. Previous students have obtained placements at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sumo-Digital, Team17, SN Systems and Autodesk on salaries of up to £18,000.

Your final year includes work at Steel Minions, our own commercially licensed game development studio, as an integrated part of the assessment of the course. Previous students have used this opportunity to bring a console game to market for the PSP.

You also complete research modules, where you propose and complete innovative development projects.

Key areas of study
Key areas include
• core focus on building advanced programming skills in C++
• 3D mathematics and programming using industry-standard APIs such as DirectX
• programming for the Sony PlayStation® 3 (PS3) and PlayStation® Vita
• technologies and hardware architectures for games
• workplace simulation in interdisciplinary teams