Video game sales surpassed the £4 billion mark in 2020, showing that the UK’s gaming industry is going from strength to strength - leading to many opportunities for video game enthusiasts.
The gaming industry offers a wide range of job roles, including those of game artists, designers, developers, animators, audio engineers, software testers, technical support officers, game producers, and writers.
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Games Design focuses on creating characters, images and environments online. The course starts by considering theories linked to various media from different sectors to explore how meaning, messages, and values are constructed through formal and stylistic elements. Initial units will look to develop your planning skills and allow you to gain more insight into requirements such as finance, logistics and regulations for a media project.
You will look to create a thoroughly researched pre-production portfolio and present ideas on how you plan to deliver a digital game, including the initial scripts and storyboards. The course also explores the web production lifecycle, website production conventions, and asset preparation to add interactivity to your site. There will be opportunities to work on client briefs to demonstrate technical and creative skills in creating a complete project.
In this course, you will participate in lively discussions about new gaming technology and media campaigns. You will also review the latest developments within the sector as they are released.
For example, the department organises trips and talks to EGX to look at the new games being showcased and the indie and retro developments. We have also visited Teesside University to learn about progressive web apps and develop rapid prototyping skills within storyboarding.
We teach all the latest skills and techniques in vibrant, exciting spaces. Facilities include industry-standard software and equipment within specialist creative art workshops. Students can access specialised art studios and dedicated Mac suites, and you will be taught how to use various digital software.
This course leads to employment in the sector or higher-level study. You could potentially move to a career in level design, concept art/character art, game design or any degree-level course linked to game development.
Working in game design
With consumers demanding a constant stream of high-quality content, media companies invest in digital technologies and a workforce that allows them to compete in this innovative and fast-moving sector.
Before the 2020 national lockdown, Britons were already among the most significant global video game consumers - market intelligence company Newzoo reported that as many as 37.3 million people in the UK play video games. However, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) has revealed how sales are now at record levels - increasing by nearly 15% compared to the previous year - as people inevitably turned to other forms of entertainment they could easily access at home.
This substantial revenue was driven by digital gaming, which accounted for £3.6 billion. Players increasingly chose to purchase digital subscriptions, direct-to-console games and downloads rather than physical media.
ERA chief executive Kim Bayley says, "The entertainment market was already growing without coronavirus, but with much of the leisure sector shuttered due to lockdown, music, video, and games were in the right place at the right time."
Trade" association TIGA has reported that the nation’s development workforce is now 18,279 strong - up by over 12% from November 2018 to April 2020 - the fastest growth it has recorded (Prospects).
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Meet your tutors
Steph Fulke
I am a digital artist specialising in motion graphics, digital illustrations, 3D modelling and branding. I have a degree in Product Design and Visual Communication and a master's degree in Design for Services, which focuses on design strategy, encapsulating what businesses and organisations offer, and how to communicate this to customers through branding. As a freelancer, my clientele includes the NHS, Dundee University, Children's Hospice Association Scotland, Scottish Social Service Council, several independent creative organisations, and Creative Dundee and Perthshire Creates. I've also worked as a design assistant for The Lake District National Park Authority when they obtained their UNESCO World Heritage Status.
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In the UK, the gaming industry is worth over GBP5 billion to the economy, with more than 2000 firms, of all sizes, designing and developing games. In the past two years, more than 10000 new video games were released, and every single one of them had at least one designer - this job involves creating the looks, the rules and background story, and the critical structures to the game. As newer technologies are developed, more designers are needed to use these tools in bringing creativity to life on screen.
