Welcome to your Professional Games Development course

Welcome to the MSc professional games development masters. We know you’re ready to get started, taking your industry knowledge and applying it to the upcoming course modules.

You have chosen a master’s degree that focuses on taking your industry knowledge in your chosen field and applying it in designed modules to help you enhance your skills and gain a qualification through professional practice.

Course delivery

The Professional Games Development Masters divides the academic year into four nine-week blocks spread over two years, allowing you to complete it alongside your current job role. Each module will have 10 hours of contact for each module with an academic supervisor based on your specialism.

You will study one module spread over two teaching blocks, with three modules in year 1 and two modules in year 2.

Teaching methods include supervision and workshops. The supervision will be 1-1 with an academic supervisor.

Each module concludes with a summative assessment, including coursework, portfolio work, logbooks, reports, presentations, and projects. These assessments contribute to your module marks and degree classification.

Supervisors will facilitate your learning by creating a student-centred experience. This approach will follow the industry’s requirements for self-learning and personal development and will also prepare you for a lifelong approach to learning.

Independent learning makes up most of the master’s and allows you to practice skills. The modules have a mixture of assessments, some being research-focused and others focused on creating high-quality artefacts for the student’s portfolio, with accompanying progress documentation on the Digital Academy Forum.

This is a distance-based course, so all supervisor meetings will be via Teams.

Semester one activities

In your first year on the master’s, you will be engaging in the following modules:

Professional Careers in Games Development

The Professional Careers in Games Development module provides a comprehensive framework to evaluate and shape your career in the fast-paced and dynamic games industry. You will critically assess your strengths, weaknesses, and career goals through self-reflection, industry analysis, and professional development exercises. Additionally, you will learn from the career trajectories of established industry professionals, gaining insights that can help guide your path in this exciting field.

Game Development Practice

Building on the foundation established in the Professional Careers in Games Development module, Game Development Practice allows you to engage in an in-depth, self-directed project that aligns with your personal career goals. This module enables you to create a high-quality artefact in your chosen game development field, allowing you to showcase your skills and creativity.

Games Research Methods

In this module, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct rigorous research in game development. You will learn to critically evaluate both academic and industry research, develop structured research proposals, and apply suitable methodologies for examining game technologies, design innovations, and player experiences. The module will cover essential topics such as literature reviews, research ethics, qualitative and quantitative methods, user testing, game analytics, and effectively reporting your research findings to both academic and industry audiences. By the end of the module, you will have the capability to conduct independent research that contributes to advancements in game development.

Pre-learning

You will be coming in with industry experience in your field. If there are any skills, you would like to learn outside your field within the industry or any areas of game development you would like to explore; please complete prior research so that you can apply this to your modules.

Reading List

Bailey, S. (2024). Academic Writing: A practical guide for students. Nelson Thornes.
Barzun, J., & Graff, H. F. (2003). The Modern Researcher (6th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing.
Berry, R. (2004). The research project: How to write it, edition 5 (5th ed.). Routledge.
Marshall, L. A., & Rowland, F. (2013). A guide to learning independently (5th ed.). Pearson Education.

Equipment and software

Software link: https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/software/SitePages/Home.aspx

Meet the team

Dr Kieran Hicks

Course Director

Dr Kieran Hicks is a game design lecturer, they are the director of the DEMI research centre. Their research explores games from user-based and design-based lenses, using games as a tool to engage diverse groups in beneficial activity.

Kieran's profile

Matthew Syrett

Senior Lecturer 3d Games Art

Matt is a 3D environment and prop artist with experience in both the industry and academia. His work across different platforms has provided him with extensive knowledge of game art production.

Professor Christopher Headleand

Head Of Department - Sugi

Prof. Headleand is a Computing & Video Games academic with over 20 years' experience; internationally recognised as an expert in student engagement. He is head of Games Design & Technology & researches Virtual Reality, Visualisation & Serious Games.

Christopher's profile

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.