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University of Bolton, why we are the right choice
Location - Bolton, Greater Manchester
Want to take your career to the next level? Raise your game with our Master’s in Games Development. Designed to build your understanding of advanced game development techniques, extend your knowledge of the games business, and enhance your transferable skills, this course is the ideal next step for ambitious games graduates.
Award:
MA
Mode of Study:
Full-time
Duration:
12 months
Location:
University of Bolton
Start date:
To be confirmed
Games are serious business. The industry needs professionals with in-depth technical games knowledge and creative vision combined with business know-how and marketing expertise. The University of Bolton’s MA in Games Development offers you the chance to grow your skills and confidence in all these areas, gaining experience as a developer, and graduating with at least one credit on a published game to your name.
Designed around team-based development projects, the course involves you working with other students to form and run ‘indie’ style teams. Our highly-experienced games team will support and encourage you as you learn to plan, design, develop and publish games.
We will work to further extend your already substantial understanding of game development concepts and production methods, helping you master an arsenal of advanced tools and techniques to create compelling and inventive experiences.
Alongside these games-specific skills, we offer commercial and business knowledge for the creative sector; for instance, business planning, client negotiation, pitching for projects, responding to project briefs, intellectual property licencing and marketing campaign planning. Our academic team will provide critical support while helping you hone your project management and other transferable skills, ready to progress your career in the industry.
We have Sony PlayStation First accreditation.
Where changes are made to material information contained in this course description or a decision is taken to suspend a course between the offer of admissions and enrolment, we will inform applicants at the earliest possible opportunity and will outline the various options available to the applicant.
You will gain extensive experience of designing and creating computer games, working in small teams and independently. You will develop clear and demonstrable skills in project management, team working, communication, leadership and negotiation, and utilise industry-standard tools and techniques including HTC Vive and the Apple iOS Developer Programme.
You will graduate with at least one personal credit on a published game. You will also be exposed to running an indie company, developing your entrepreneurial skills and business knowledge which will support you as an independent developer or to support your career in a larger games development studio. Moreover, the emerging field of ‘gamification’ – using game elements, design and principles in fields such as business, education and healthcare – offers enormous potential for games graduates with a flair for introducing fun into mundane tasks.
The games developer job title covers a broad area of work and there are many specialisms within the industry. These include: games programmer (with various specialisms such as network, engine, toolchain and artificial intelligence); games artist (including concept artist, technical artist, iu/ux artist, animator/rigger and 3D modeller with further specialisms in characters, vehicles, environments, weapons and prop creation); games designer (ui/ux designer, level designer, technical systems designer, gameplay scripter and narrative designer) producer and quality assurance tester.
Home students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Home fee of £8,496 for the academic year 2024/25.
Overseas students starting this course in the first year will be required to pay a Overseas fee of £15,950 for the academic year 2024/25.
Important note regarding tuition fees for the 2019-2020 academic year: EU nationals who meet residency requirements (have settled or pre-settled status) may be eligible for 'Home' fee status. If you do not meet these residency requirements, overseas fees will apply. Irish citizens living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for 'Home' fee status under the Common Travel Area arrangement. Please read the student finance for EU students web page on www.gov.uk for information.
The fees for a student's course of study will be set for the normal duration of that course subject only to inflationary increases – measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded in March each year to take effect for subsequent start dates.
For details of how to apply for this course, please choose your status from the options below:
Overall, the course is project-based and intensely practical in nature. You will be expected to take part in various types of projects that are appropriate to a small group of independent video game developers, working in groups with your peers. Throughout your studies, you will have access to the various members of our games team, so you can benefit from a range of different help and advice. Where new material, concepts and techniques are being introduced, we will offer teaching and learning support to help you absorb those new ideas.
Normally, you will be expected to work full-time on one project at a time. By undertaking projects sequentially, you will have opportunities to reflect on the outcome of each project by means of a ‘post-mortem’. This might take the form of a viva or written report or both. Our games tutors will then be able to consider and address any issues you experienced before defining the content and scope of your subsequent projects.
During your time on the MA Games Development course, you’ll have regular support from the Programme Leader. A weekly one-to-one drop-in session with your Personal Tutor is also available, so you can discuss any issues you’re experiencing.
Our assessment strategy is designed to be flexible; where possible, a student who fails to achieve a learning outcome on one project will be given the opportunity to achieve that learning outcome on a subsequent project. The projects form the basis of the assessment for this course. In particular, you will be asked to provide your reflection on the outcomes of each project. The form of this reflection will vary, but will typically involve a report and a viva.
The modules listed below may be a mixture of compulsory and optional. You may not have the opportunity to study all the modules shown as part of the course.
Level | Assesment method |
---|---|
Level one | Coursework 94%, Practical exams 6% |
Level | Learning activity |
---|---|
Level one | Guided independent study 7% |
Level two | Scheduled learning and teaching activities 93% |
Disclaimer
The university will use all reasonable endeavours to deliver your course as described in its published material and the programme specification for the academic year in which you begin your course. The university considers changes to courses very carefully and the university will minimise any changes. Please be aware that our courses are subject to review on an ongoing basis and changes may be necessary due to legitimate staffing, financial, regulatory and academic reasons. The content of course modules and mode of associated assessments may be updated on an annual basis. This is to ensure that all modules are up-to-date and responsive to employment and sector needs. The published course material and the programme specification contain indicative ‘optional modules’ that may be subject to change due to circumstances outside of our control. For this reason, we cannot guarantee to run any specific optional module.
The academic staff detailed above teach across a range of courses in this subject area and may not teach on this course specifically.
A.Williams@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903839
enquiries@bolton.ac.uk
+44 (0)1204 903903
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton
University of Bolton