MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment
Our groundbreaking MSc has been developed in response to a pressing need to offer a high quality postgraduate programme serving the industries of computer games and entertainment, with an emphasis on programming, maths and graphics, business, IP, entrepreneurship, team management, 3D animation, AI and physics in games. The programme is delivered by a mix of professionals from the industry and from the research world.
MSc in Computer Games & Entertainment
1 year full-time or 2 years part-time.
You will be required to demonstrate sufficient proficiency at programming in a major language, such as C, C#, C++ or Java, before being accepted on the programme. This may take the form of text or – during an interview – a practical challenge to programme a well-known method or algorithm. A portfolio of relevant work (such as programming samples, art-based/sketch book, games assets, or games programmed/designed) will strengthen your application. If your first language is not English, please check our English Language requirements. For more information you may contact the course co-founders/co-directors.
If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline. Find out more about funding opportunities for home/EU applicants, or funding for international applicants.
Find out more about applying
Upper second class undergraduate degree in computing, engineering or mathematical sciences, and an interest in – and capability for – working in interdisciplinary contexts. In exceptional circumstances, outstanding practitioners or individuals with strong commercial experience may be considered.
The global computer games industry is valued at 60 billion USD and is predicted to continuously grow in years to come. It's a mature industry with companies such as EA, Ubisoft, and Blizzard Activision giving long-term career prospects, shares, and benefits. There is a big skills shortage in this growing sector. Less than two months after finishing their MSc in Computer Games and Entertainment, all eight of our MSc graduates of 2010-11 have secured good positions in games studios or technology/graphics companies (including one self-starter/entrepreneur).
You'll develop excellent games programming skills. These skills are highly transferrable, as games programming is viewed by other industries as being very demanding and requiring a high level of technical ability.
Please see Tuition fees.
During the course of the programme, we organise multiple meetings of students with industry representatives which often lead to summer term internships; most students who complete sucessfully an internship (which may contribute towards their final MSc project) get a job offer by the end of the programme.
Please see Staff research interests.
The computer games and entertainment business is a fast growing multi-billion dollar worldwide business, with games platforms ranging from Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, mobile and handhelds including iPhone, iPad and Android phones, PC-based, and massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) involving tens of thousands of people.
With ongoing strong demand for graduate computer games programmers from the UK and abroad, this MSc will produce graduates who are well positioned to get a job in this exciting worldwide industry. Potential employers include EA, Ubisoft, Sony, Activision, Microsoft, Cinesite, Framestore, and many more.
"We were so impressed with James (Huxtable) and his talent, that at the end of his internship, we have offered him a full time role at the studio and believe he will be a very important part of the team for years to come."
Miles Jacobson, Managing Director, SEGA Sports Interactive October 21, 2010
In a wider sense, the influence of computer games programming is spreading to other digital media industries outside games, as seen in products such as Second Life, Habbo Hotel and Bebo, or as seen in other entertainment industries such as special effects for television, videos and movies. Computer games are starting to fundamentally change the way people interact with computerised systems.
(Goldsmiths is a member of TIGA)
Quote from one of our alumni, Kieran Lad:
"I have thoroughly enjoyed studying the MSc Computer Games & Entertainment course at Goldsmiths. Having been taught industry standard techniques by industry professionals has allowed me to expand my portfolio dramatically. The course has good links to the industry which has been exploited fully with regular guest lectures and the opportunity to engage in gaming culture from a developer’s perspective. Group assignments have been structured in such a way that they emulate industry working environments. The course has given me the ability to approach and tackle real world game programming challenges with confidence."
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What you study
(1) Advanced Programming
Object oriented programming (C++); other languages including managed coding (C#), XNA, OpenGL, scripting (Python, Lua), mobile (iPhone, Android), casual, on-line games programming (Java); debugging (assembly). The course also looks at special topics of current (and future) concern to the industry: middleware, procedural programming, multicore parallel processing and design, computer vision (e.g. kinect technology).
(2) Computing in Geometry, Graphics & Vision
(o) Review of linear algebra (vectors, matrices, quaternions) used in games and graphics; review of calculus; interpolation, splines, surface meshes. etc.
(i) Fundamentals and advances in computational geometry; flocking behaviours (animation of crowds), space syntaxes, 3D bucketing and parallel processing.
(ii) Fundamentals and advances in computer graphics: rendering/shaders, 2D/3D interactions and representations; non-photorealistic rendering (NPR), procedural algorithmics, growth and evolutionary systems etc.
(iii) Models of human (visual) perception, overview of computer vision, including image processing and pattern recognition.
(3) Games & Interactive Entertainment Industries
Gives an overview of the industries and teaches students the main management methods. Main topics include: (i) Industrial domains.
(ii) How games are made: from concept to shrink wrap; how development is different; the use of middleware and tools; team work (Tuckman, Empowerment, psychology etc).
(iii) Entrepreneurship: how to do it yourself; financing, IP, marketing, hiring etc.
(4) Additional Modules (other important topics for these industries)
AI and physics in games; 3D character animation; audio-visual processing, shaders.
(5) Final Project & Dissertation
Mimics the industrial team-work environment; prepares you to join the industry by helping you polish your portfolio. Working in small teams, students will be required to build a level of complete ‘First Playable’ prototype game (or ‘The Vertical Slice’) for PC, or consoles or mobile platforms of a quality to be suitable to be shown to a publisher. Possibility of interships at games or post-production studios.
More details here.
Assessment
Exams, coursework, essays, final project and dissertation.
Who will teach you?
Course co-founders: Professors William Latham and Frederic Fol Leymarie. Find out more about the co-founders and principal lecturers.
Register your interest
If you register your interest in this programme we will keep you informed about open days and send you relevant further information. If you subsequently decide to apply for this programme you will be able to use the same login details to apply.
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Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7919 7171
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