Overview

The games and tech industries continue to dominate the globe, and they're always seeking game designers and developers. Become their next rising star on our BA (Hons) Computer Games Design degree course.

With help from our teaching team of games industry experts, you'll dive into the theory of game design and development. You can specialise as a programmer or artist, designing, developing, and testing games for different audiences using our advanced game development facilities. For an extra boost to your professional experience, you can complete an optional work placement.

Discover what it takes to become an industry-ready games designer at Portsmouth, two-time winner of the TIGA Best Educational Institution Award (2021, 2014).

Course highlights

Explore how games are constructed by learning a variety of theories—including systems, gameplay, psychology, user experience, and narrative
Work with next-gen technologies in our impressive facilities, including the UK's first ever Centre for Creative Immersive and Extended Reality (CCIXR)
Enhance your teamworking skills by collaborating with other Games students on game projects – including our annual University GameJam
Learn from an expert teaching team with strong links to local, national and international games companies—including Rare, Codemasters, Jagex, Creative Assembly, Rebellion, and Climax
Gain valuable professional experience by completing an optional work placement—with a company or self-employed
Broaden your cultural experience by studying abroad in Europe
Impress your future employers by showcasing your work at our annual Graduate Showcase

10th

for animation and game design in the UK

(Guardian University Guide, 2024)

Accreditation

This course is accredited by TIGA (The Independent Game Developers' Association). This means it has been examined by a panel of industry and academic experts to make sure you develop relevant and up-to-date skills needed by the games and related industries.

In 2021, the University of Portsmouth was awarded Best Educational Institution at the TIGA Games Industry Awards.

Contact information

Admissions

+44 (0) 23 9284 5566

Contact Admissions

Entry requirements

BA (Hons) Computer Games Design entry requirements

Typical offers

A levels - BBB-BBC
UCAS points - 112-120 points to include a minimum of 2 A levels, or equivalent (calculate your UCAS points)
T-levels - Merit
BTECs (Extended Diplomas) - DDM-DMM
International Baccalaureate - 25

You may need to have studied specific subjects – find full entry requirements and other qualifications we accept

Selection process

A relevant qualification or experience in art/design/creative computing or graphic arts is required. Applicants without relevant qualifications will be asked to provide a portfolio to support their application.

Learn how to put together a creative portfolio for your application by reading our Computer Games Art and Design courses portfolio guide.

English language requirements

English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.

See alternative English language qualifications

We also accept other standard English tests and qualifications, as long as they meet the minimum requirements of your course.

If you don't meet the English language requirements yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

We look at more than just your grades

While we consider your grades when making an offer, we also carefully look at your circumstances and other factors to assess your potential. These include whether you live and work in the region and your personal and family circumstances which we assess using established data.

Explore more about how we make your offer

Facilities

Motion Capture Studio

Learn how to use the same professional motion capture equipment used in the VR, game design, and film industries.

Photogrammetry and Scanning Studio

Scan people, objects, or locations with our 144-camera-decked photogrammetry and scanning studio.

Volumetric Video Studio

With our Holosys™-powered Volumetric Video Studio, you can capture stunning 3D footage of moving objects for your next XR project.

Skills and qualities you need for this degree course

To get the most out of this course, you'll need to be passionate about creating, testing, modding, and tweaking games; and dissecting them and their impact on players.

You should enjoy critically analysing games – such as identifying their systems – in order to understand, implement, and potentially improve them.

You should also be:

comfortable discussing games and ideas in games industry and culture
enthusiastic about developing your understanding of the applications of game design
eager to translate your knowledge into well-developed games

Careers and opportunities

With an estimated global value of $184.4 billion (£147.4 billion) as of 2022 (Newzoo, 2023) the computer games industry is a force to be reckoned with. In the UK, it contributed £2.9 billion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020/21, and the number of workers in the field grew to 20,975 (TIGA, 2022).

As the game industry and its workforce continue to expand – especially across sectors adopting its technologies and systems – multi-skilled and specialist graduates are more in demand than ever before.

Areas you can work in with a Computer Games Design degree

Game design positions in industry tend to be segmented into various responsibilities, including:

gameplay
narrative
level
concept design

Your theoretical, programming, and art skills from completing this course will allow you to pursue a career in any of those fields – with a graduate level design role as a starting point.

Jobs you can do with a Computer Games Design degree

You can work in various design roles, such as:

Level Designer
Narrative Designer
Gameplay Designer
Games testing (Quality Assurance)
Game Audio

As you further your career, you can advance to senior management positions like Creative Director.

Continuing your studies

If you wish to continue your education, our course provides a natural path to a Master's degree. You can study Game Design at an MSc or MA level, or you can study MA Art or MSc Computing courses based on your specialisation.

Placement year (optional)

After your second or third year, you can complete an optional work placement to gain professional experience and enhance your skills. It's also a great incentive for employers once you graduate.

You can work for a company, organisation or agency, or you can go self-employed and start your own business with fellow students or by yourself.

Whatever you decide – or even if you just want some employability advice – our exclusive Creative Careers team can support you every step of the way.

Creative Careers

Our in-faculty Creative Careers team has extensive recruitment experience and knows the creative sector well, making it easier for students to find placements within the creative industries.

They can guide you through every step of the application process, including:

Searching for the ideal job through their database of vacancies
Giving tips on how to write an interesting CV that will catch employers' attention, no matter the role
Organising mock interviews, so you can hone your technique and familiarise yourself with the recruitment environment
Writing your startup business proposal – if you're going down the self-employment route

The team will continue to give you support throughout your placement year.

Placement roles

You can work in various junior positions in designing, programming and artistry, such as:

Game Designer
Level Designer
Narrative Designer
Gameplay Designer/Programmer
Game Artist

Placement destinations

You can intern at games studios and technology companies like:

Rare
Sumo Digital
Sega
Criterion Games
IBM
Amazon
Babcock

Alternatively, you can work as an independent or freelance game designer and developer.

Ongoing careers support

Get experience while you study, with support to find part-time jobs, volunteering opportunities, and work experience.

Towards the end of your degree and for up to five years after graduation, you’ll receive one-to-one support from our Graduate Recruitment Consultancy to help you find your perfect role.

Modules

Each module on this course is worth a certain number of credits.

In each year, you need to study modules worth a total of 120 credits. For example, four modules worth 20 credits and one module worth 40 credits.

What you'll study

Core modules in this year include:

Design Studio
3D Modelling
Games Design and Context
Coding and Scripting for Games
Art Skills for Games
Game Development

Core modules in this year include:

Design Games
Student Enterprise for Games
Project Initiation and Career Planning
Prototyping and Iterating Games Designs

Optional modules in this year include:

Commercial Asset Production For Real Time
Creative Technologies Study Exchange
Design and Visual Research For Cinema and Game
Designing For Animation
Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisciplinary Practice
Gameplay Programming
Maths For Games
Modern Foreign Language
Professional Experience

Core modules in this year include:

Final Year Project
Real-time Interactive Group Project: Part 1
Real-time Interactive Group Project: Part 2

Optional modules in this year include:

Advanced Graphics Techniques
Create Worlds
Games Research
Implementing Game Audio
Programming AI For Games
Psychological Theory For Game Designers

We'll help you secure a work placement that fits your situation and ambitions. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.

Changes to course content

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, course content is revised and regularly reviewed. This may result in changes being made in order to reflect developments in research, learning from practice and changes in policy at both national and local levels.

Course specification

Teaching

Teaching on this course includes:

lectures
seminars
practical problem-solving and experimentation (individual and in group)

During your final year, as part of your specialisation, you'll have one-to-one tuition with a project supervisor and work on briefs from real industry clients.

Our teaching staff are published, practice-based games researchers that have worked on commercial games with various studios, including:

The Chinese Room (Dear Esther)
Rebellion (Sniper Elite series)
Jagex (Runescape)
Stainless Games (Carmageddon)

Many of our staff members hold PhDs in game-related fields, attend conferences regularly, and are active in the University's Advanced Games Research Group.

You can access all teaching resources on Moodle, our virtual learning environment, from anywhere with a Web connection.

Meet your course leader

Dr Peter Howell

Senior Lecturer

peter.howell@port.ac.uk

School of Creative Technologies

Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries

PhD Supervisor

How you're assessed

You'll be assessed through:

practical artefacts
presentations (video and in-person)
written reports
exams

You'll be assessed during modules and you'll receive feedback to help improve your learning.

How you'll spend your time

One of the main differences between school or college and university is how much control you have over your learning.

We use a blended learning approach to teaching, which means you’ll take part in both face-to-face and online activities during your studies. As well as attending your timetabled classes you'll study independently in your free time, supported by staff and our virtual learning environment, Moodle.

A typical week

We recommend you spend at least 30 hours a week studying for your degree.

In your first year, you’ll be in timetabled teaching activities for about 10 hours a week. These activities include:

lectures
seminars
group work

The rest of the time you’ll do independent study, either tutor-directed or alone, such as:

practice
reading
research
revision
coursework

You may also participate in external events, like GameJam, to develop your portfolio and challenge your skills.

You'll probably do more independent study and have less scheduled teaching in years 2 and 3, but this depends on which modules you choose.

Most timetabled teaching takes place during the day, from Monday to Friday. You may occasionally need to go to University and course events in the evenings. There’s usually no teaching on Wednesday afternoons.

Term dates

The academic year runs from September to June. There are breaks at Christmas and Easter.

See term dates

Supporting you

The amount of timetabled teaching you'll get on your degree might be less than what you're used to at school or college, but you'll also get support via video, phone and face-to-face from teaching and support staff to enhance your learning experience and help you succeed. You can build your personalised network of support from the following people and services:

Types of support

Your personal tutor helps you make the transition to independent study and gives you academic and personal support throughout your time at university.

You'll have regular contact with your personal tutor in learning activities or scheduled meetings. You can also make an appointment with them if you need extra support.

In addition to the support you get from your personal tutor, you’ll also have access to a Faculty student support advisor. They can give you confidential, impartial advice on anything to do with your studies and personal wellbeing and refer you to specialist support services.

You'll have help from a team of faculty academic skills tutors. They can help you improve and develop your academic skills and support you in any area of your study.

They can help with:

improving your academic writing (for example, essays, reports, dissertations)
delivering presentations (including observing and filming presentations)
understanding and using assignment feedback
managing your time and workload
revision and exam techniques

If you need support with software and equipment or you want to learn additional skills (including skills not covered on your course), our creative skills tutors provide free workshops, activities and one-on-one tutorials. Skills you can learn include life drawing, film camera operation and video production.

Computing support staff are always available to give technical support in the Faculty's computer suites during normal working hours. There's also some support available from 5.00pm to midnight at busy times of the year.

As well as support from faculty staff and your personal tutor, you can use the University’s Academic Skills Unit (ASK).

ASK provides one-to-one support in areas such as:

academic writing
note taking
time management
critical thinking
presentation skills
referencing
working in groups
revision, memory and exam techniques

If you have a disability or need extra support, the Additional Support and Disability Centre (ASDAC) will give you help, support and advice.

Our online Learning Well mini-course will help you plan for managing the challenges of learning and student life, so you can fulfil your potential and have a great student experience.

You can get personal, emotional and mental health support from our Student Wellbeing Service, in person and online. This includes 1–2–1 support as well as courses and workshops that help you better manage stress, anxiety or depression.

If you require extra support because of a disability or additional learning need our specialist team can help you.

They'll help you to

discuss and agree on reasonable adjustments
liaise with other University services and facilities, such as the library
access specialist study skills and strategies tutors, and assistive technology tutors, on a 1-to-1 basis or in groups
liaise with external services

Library staff are available in person or by email, phone, or online chat to help you make the most of the University’s library resources. You can also request one-to-one appointments and get support from a librarian who specialises in your subject area.

The library is open 24 hours a day, every day, in term time.

If English isn't your first language, you can do one of our English language courses to improve your written and spoken English language skills before starting your degree. Once you're here, you can take part in our free In-Sessional English (ISE) programme to improve your English further.

Course costs and funding

Tuition fees

UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £9,250 a year (may be subject to annual increase)
EU students – £9,250 a year (including Transition Scholarship – may be subject to annual increase)
International students – £18,800 a year (subject to annual increase)

Funding your studies

Find out how to fund your studies, including the scholarships and bursaries you could get. You can also find more about tuition fees and living costs, including what your tuition fees cover.

Applying from outside the UK? Find out about funding options for international students.

Additional course costs

These course-related costs aren’t included in the tuition fees. So you’ll need to budget for them when you plan your spending.

Costs breakdown

Our accommodation section shows your accommodation options and highlights how much it costs to live in Portsmouth.

You’ll study up to 6 modules a year. You may have to read several recommended books or textbooks for each module.

You can borrow most of these from the Library. If you buy these, they may cost up to £60 each.

We recommend that you budget £75 a year for photocopying, memory sticks, DVDs and CDs, printing charges, binding and specialist printing.

If your final year includes a major project, there could be cost for transport or accommodation related to your research activities. The amount will depend on the project you choose.

You may need to spend £20 - £75 per annum on drawing and modelling materials, printing, memory sticks or CDs, and DVDs. (Depending upon option modules selected).

If you take the Student Enterprise Module, you’ll need to pay an additional cost of approximately £20.

If you take a placement year or study abroad year, tuition fees for that year are as follows:

UK/Channel Islands and Isle of Man students – £925 a year (may be subject to annual increase)
EU students – £925 a year, including Transition Scholarship (may be subject to annual increase)
International students – £1,800 a year (subject to annual increase)

You may need to spend £25–£50 per annum on drawing materials.

Apply

How to apply

To start this course in 2024, apply through UCAS. You'll need:

the UCAS course code – I620
our institution code – P80

If you'd prefer to apply directly, use our online application form.

You can also sign up to an Open Day to:

Tour our campus, facilities and halls of residence
Speak with lecturers and chat with our students
Get information about where to live, how to fund your studies and which clubs and societies to join

If you're new to the application process, read our guide on applying for an undergraduate course.

Applying from outside the UK

As an international student you'll apply using the same process as UK students, but you’ll need to consider a few extra things.

You can get an agent to help with your application. Check your country page for details of agents in your region.

Find out what additional information you need in our international students section.

If you don't meet the English language requirements for this course yet, you can achieve the level you need by successfully completing a pre-sessional English programme before you start your course.

Admissions terms and conditions

When you accept an offer to study at the University of Portsmouth, you also agree to abide by our Student Contract (which includes the University's relevant policies, rules and regulations). You should read and consider these before you apply.