Game Design and Development

If you’re eager to explore a broad range of roles and skills in the game design and development industry while keeping your career options versatile, then this degree course in Game Design and Development is tailored for you. By combining foundational game design skills with technical specialisations such as programming, testing, immersive experience development, interactive storytelling, and level design, you will dive into a learning experience that prepares you for a versatile career in the gaming industry, ready to adapt and thrive in its ever-evolving landscape. Courses at ARU Peterborough are designed to help you become a life-long learner, ready to pivot in your career and respond to changes in this fast-moving industry.

Studying at ARU Peterborough offers unique advantages. You will learn in our industry-standard gaming suites, featuring cutting-edge resources like the eXtended Reality Peterborough immersive reality suite and have access to various VR and Mixed Reality headsets. These facilities are part of our new, purpose-built university premises in Peterborough, designed to ensure you engage with industry-standard tools and software. Our curriculum, co-developed with regional and national employers, ensures you graduate with the skills in high demand within the sector.

The first year of the course is designed to prepare you for study at HE level, with modules designed to enhance your study skills while enabling you to begin engaging with your interests in game design and development. The second year will overlap with the BA (Hons) Game Design and Digital Art, fostering a collaborative learning environment where you can share and enhance your specialisms alongside your peers, forming professional relationships that will carry forward to modules such as Team-Based Game Development and Game Studio Design and Development, where you will learn in multidisciplinary teams, mirroring the real-world industry standards. The shared content will focus on foundational game design principles, enabling you to become a competent game designer, while also utilising this knowledge to underpin the game development skills that will become a major focus as the course progresses. You will also learn how to rapidly prototype game concepts at this level to get your ideas off the ground and into reality.

While the Game Design and Digital Art course has a focus on artistic principles and skills during the third and fourth years, this course will focus on game programming and development with game engines, including specialisms in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and mobile game production.

Beyond the traditional classroom, you will benefit from guest speakers, live project briefs, and team-based game development projects. These experiences are designed to enhance your specialist knowledge and develop your technical, presentation, and communication skills, giving you a competitive edge in your future career.

During your final year you will immerse yourself in a studio project, that simulates a real-world game development environment. You will engage in a mock recruitment process with support from employability experts, applying for a role aligned with your specialisation, which will provide you with invaluable experience before undertaking this same process in the industry. During this intensive single-trimester module, your sole focus for the period, you will collaborate with your peers in specialist teams to develop a game to meet a specified brief. We transform your classroom into a live game development studio, offering you hands-on experience in studio management, game publishing, and insights into launching your own indie studio. This project not only sharpens your technical skills but also enhances your professional capabilities, readying you for a successful career in game development.

As a graduate, you will enter a vibrant industry with opportunities for long-term careers in various roles, from game designers and programmers to project managers and technical consultants with established studios or, alternatively, you will be in the position to start your career as an Indie Game Developer. The gaming industry is known for its rapid growth and innovation, offering a promising and exciting career path. Choose ARU Peterborough’s Extended BSc (Hons) in Game Design and Development and take the first step toward becoming a game designer or developer equipped not just with practical skills but with a deep understanding of the industry’s needs and challenges. Let’s shape your future together.