Game Programming MSc
Get the edge in the highly competitive games industry.
Course overview
Whether you’re currently studying a computing degree, are in the early stages of your career or want to re-train in this exciting field, this course will help you to become a confident game programmer who can deliver compelling play experiences.
Learn technical, creative and professional skills from veteran game developers and world-leading researchers, within a studio environment that mirrors industry. Our award-winning Games Academy studio is ripe for collaboration and innovation. Learning from experienced games practitioners, and working with artists and designers in a studio environment, you’ll experiment with cutting-edge technologies and game programming techniques. You’ll also benefit from our industry connections and insights; several of our graduates have seen great success with the UK Games Fund and founding their own indie game studios, through career support from our employability service RealWORKS
You will:
- Gain a Master of Science degree with a creative edge, helping you to stand out in a highly competitive sector by nurturing an imaginative approach to problem-solving – complementing your technical expertise and other highly sought-after transferable skills
- Learn from experienced game developers with expertise spanning experimental gameplay, human-computer interaction, graphics and simulation, distributed systems, analytics, AI, procedural content generation, physical computing and digital creativity
- Be encouraged to explore your unique creative voice and experiment freely with new technologies
- Undertake cutting-edge research under the supervision of subject-matter specialists
- Work within a simulated studio environment, in line with industry expectations
- Enhance your communication and collaboration skills through a team project with students and staff from other areas of games development
- Acquire the industry knowledge to take a game from initial concept through to a pitch-ready demonstration
- Develop your intellectual independence, and potentially establish yourself as a technical innovator or pursue a new career pathway in research and development
The Games Academy is an educational affiliate of the BCS
Course details
You’ll develop your knowledge of the mathematics and technology that underpins digital games; learn industry-standard game programming approaches and methodologies; and discover how to rapidly take a game from initial concept to a pitch-ready demonstration. For your Final Major Project, you’ll also have the option to make a complete and potentially marketable game.
By working with – and optimising – state-of-the-art, real-time interactive simulation technologies, you’ll gain the knowledge to contribute to the development of new algorithms and extensions. You’ll also have opportunities to contribute to ground-breaking research efforts, equipping you with the transferrable skills for the games industry as well as software engineering in many other domains.
Software Engineering
Learn to program in C++ and how to engineer real-time interactive simulations in SDL using agile methodologies and git versioning practices.
(30 credits)
Digital Games Technology
Develop your knowledge of mathematics and the technology underpinning digital games by experimenting with low-level graphics APIs, such as OpenGL, to recreate the classics or demake modern titles.
(30 credits)
Advanced Game Programming
Make use of industry-standard engines, such as Unreal 5, to implement original and compelling gameplay experiences using advanced game programming techniques.
(30 credits)
Game Development Project
Work in a simulated studio environment in multidisciplinary teams – formed of artists, designers and programmers – to rapidly take a game idea from initial concept to a working demonstration that you can pitch for further funding.
(30 credits)
Major Project
Pursue your own practice-based or empirical research and development efforts under the supervision of a subject-matter specialist. Many choose to situate this work in the game development project they commenced in the previous study block, in an effort to commercially publish their game.
(60 credits)
The modules above are those being studied by our students, or proposed new ones. Programme structures and modules can change as part of our curriculum enhancement and review processes. If a certain module is important to you, please discuss it with the Course Leader.
How you'll learn
With regularly timetabled support sessions from our course team and access to our studio throughout, you’ll be able to produce games to a high standard, learning to collaborate effectively as a member of a game development team as well as to conduct cutting-edge research and development. You'll learn through:
- Demonstrations
- Studio practice
- Project supervision
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Practical workshops
- Crit sessions
- Tutorials
- Guest speakers
- Mentoring
How you'll be assessed
Assessment is 100% coursework, with the learning situated in an environment that mirrors industry, helping to prepare you for what it’s like in a real game studio.
Assessments are composed of practical activities underpinned by critical analyses of the workflows and practices applied in the module to further support your learning.
Module leaders, supervisors and technicians will guide and support you through your assessments to enhance your relevant technical and academic skillsets.
Staff
The Game Programming course is part of Falmouth’s Games Academy, one of the largest dedicated game development studio spaces of any UK university. You'll learn from industry experts with years of experience across game development disciplines. The course leader, Jamie White, specialises in gameplay programming, software engineering and research.
Some members of staff only teach on specific modules, and your course might not feature every staff member who teaches on the course.
Dr Jamie White
Course Coordinator, UX Design and Indie Game Development
As Course Leader for the Games Academy's online master's courses, my responsibilities involve managi...
Dr Michael Scott
Head of Computing and Associate Professor of Computer Science Education
Dr Michael Scott is the Head of Computing and Associate Professor of Computer Science Educ...
Joseph Walton-Rivers
Lecturer
Joseph Walton-Rivers is a lecturer in the Games Academy. He joined the university in 2020 to lecture...
Brian McDonald
Senior Lecturer Digital Games
Brian McDonald is a senior lecturer on the BA(Hons) Game Development and BSc(Hons) Computing fo...
John Speakman
Research Student Teaching Associate
John Speakman is a Research Student Teaching Associate with the Games Academy. He joined Falmouth Un...
Matt Watkins
Lecturer in Computing
Matt is an artist, lecturer, developer and designer. He has been responsible for the visual and tech...
Tim Phillips
Lecturer
Tim joined Falmouth University in 2018 as a game designer in the computational creativity research g...
Andy Smith
Technical Manager/Technical Tutor
Andy joined Falmouth University in 2013 after completing his undergraduate studies in Communication ...
Warwick New
Associate Lecturer
I’m an Associate Lecturer of Computing, with an academic focus on web development, supporting addi...
Facilities
Our facilities range from:
- Modern i7 machines
- Specialised computing hardware for deep learning projects
- Standard software used in the games industry, including Adobe and Autodesk suites
- Access to free software via Microsoft Imagine
- AR/VR - HoloLens, HoloLens 2 and Oculus Quest 2
Fees, costs & funding
Tuition fees
£9,900 per year – full-time UK (£250 acceptance fee payable. This is deducted from tuition fees.)
£19,300 per year – full-time EU/international (acceptance fee up to £1,000 payable, dependent on nationality. This is deducted from tuition fees.)
£9,900 per year – full-time UK (£250 acceptance fee payable. This is deducted from tuition fees.)
£19,300 per year – full-time EU/international (acceptance fee up to £1,000 payable, dependent on nationality. This is deducted from tuition fees.)
Tuition fees are set annually and are subject to review each year. The University may therefore raise tuition fees in the second or subsequent years of a course, in line with inflation and/or the maximum permitted by law or Government policy. Students will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.
The figures above don't include accommodation and living costs
Typical course costs
- To complete your coursework, you’ll require a laptop at an expense of around £1,300.
- Additional course costs could amount to £200 - £300. Additional material costs may be required on particularly large or complex projects and at the discretion of the course leader.
If you need to bring other equipment or materials with you, these will be outlined in your Welcome Letter.
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