Degrees in video game design?

[C4tt4nn4]

Hello!
I was wondering if anyone knows wether studying video game design at university would be a valid degree choice? i've been reading up on the subject and i've been getting mixed messages on the usefulness of a degree in video game design. My other option would be studying fine arts and computer science, but i don't know how hireable i would be if i did that.

(I'm specifically thinking of UAL's Bachelor of Games Design (http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/courses-by-level/ba-gamesdesign/) for anyone who's curious),

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

You can work in the game industry with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree
(It's not called Bachelors of Freaking Anything, for nothing). I'm not sure if you can work in other art related industries with a Bachelors of Games Design.

The school I went to had a video game design program, but gave you a Bachelors of Fine Arts upon completion, so your degree wouldn't be limited to something so specialized.

I don't believe that game companies care, as long as you have a degree and can do what they want you to do, well. Just make sure you are learning the skills you need and that you actually want to work with video games. Game design is often hard work and long hours, You'll want to make sure your enthusiasm for games carries over into a work environment, and it's something you can spend years doing. Even if you enjoy playing video games, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll enjoy making them.

Some other things to keep in mind...
-Concept art jobs are notoriously hard to get.
-You won't be working for a huge developer out of school (unless you are unbelievably talented), you'll most likely be making assets for a small company that develops apps for phones and Facebook.
-The starting pay is not good, and again (unless you are unbelievably talented) it doesn't get much better.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Yes! There are even entire colleges that exist specifically to teach students about videogame design. I've actually visited one.

 

[Ieyke]

My major is Game Art & Design. My classes have a ton of overlap with graphic design students, interior decoration students, general art students, etc etc.
I'm just about through with my first 4 classes, but I can tell you that having people teach you the processes behind game design and how the industry as a whole works....it's looking like it'll be incredibly useful to know.

I can also tell you that for the first time in.....forever...I feel like I am where I'm supposed to be.

While you do certainly get a degree for it, a couple of my professors have been driving home the point that a degree in something doesn't so much matter where art jobs are concerned. Employers looking for artistic types will look to see if you have a degree, but your grades are basically irrelevant to them. What they care about after that is your portfolio. The proof of what you can do. To that end, courses in game design SHOULD be a major boon toward helping you build up a portfolio relevant to getting a job in the game industry.

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

You can get into the industry without studying it directly, such as studying fine arts instead, but you'll be secondary to people who studied specifically to develop games.

I did 2 years at University for it, switching now to a different Game Dev program, but I noticed that studying it directly also means you learn bonus things that make you a better choice for a job, i.e. how to optimize models for games, you also learn more about how games work and understand what your doing later on. Studying the material directly gives a bonus over everyone else who did not study games.

 

[hooblabla6262]

If you are set on getting in to the video game industry, I would strongly recommend finding a program with it in mind specifically. Though you could certainly get a job in the industry with an arts or computer science degree, the contacts you make at a video game specific program are extremely valuable.
I had already gotten two job offers before I even finished my first semester.

On a funny note, the program I took had a mandatory social skills class. Apparently the graduates they had been sending out in to the work force, though well skilled in their field, were completely unable to behave appropriately in the workplace. It reached a point that employers were demanding this be a class in my program.
One of my assignments was to meet a stranger every week.
What an interesting program that was.

 

[Woodsey]

I'd go for something broader. That's a very specific degree for an industry renowned for treating its employees like shit, that'll most likely see you as anything but an actual designer.

 

[TheEndlessGrey]

If you are certain that you will only want to ever work in games, sure, the specialized programs can get you a job if your school has a good placement program and makes sure the studios know their program is worth something, and not one of the late night infomercial type 'degrees' that is about as useful to them as one in cosmotology. If you think you might want to work in a more traditional business setting someday, or if you want to cover your bases in case you have a hard time finding a game job and need something to pay bills until you do, get a regular Computer Science degree, or Fine Arts degree, depending on whether you want to get into programming or design, and you should really pick one. Versatility is great, but frequently wasted.

Unless you are working at a very small studio, the closest a designer will come to programming is scripting, which can be covered by entry level computer science, and the only design a programmer will do is related to the technical architecture of the game systems. The most important thing you can do for whatever degree you go after, is make games. They don't have to be good, they just have to get better each time. Another skill to teach yourself, is when you play games, do it with a critical eye for design or programming techniques. Ask yourself why the designers included a particular gameplay feature, what problem were they trying to solve or what problem were they trying to give players the ability to solve for themselves? Under what circumstances does this solution work, or fail to work? What kind of AI are they using, does it look like a state machine, or a decision tree, or something more complicated? How effective is the AI in making the game more fun for you, and what would you change?

 

[gazumped]

Hello!
I was wondering if anyone knows wether studying video game design at university would be a valid degree choice? i've been reading up on the subject and i've been getting mixed messages on the usefulness of a degree in video game design. My other option would be studying fine arts and computer science, but i don't know how hireable i would be if i did that.

(I'm specifically thinking of UAL's Bachelor of Games Design (http://www.lcc.arts.ac.uk/courses/courses-by-level/ba-gamesdesign/) for anyone who's curious),

Oooh, I go to LCC/UAL, I know a couple of people who graduated from the Games Design course last year if you want me to ask them if you can get in touch with them to find out about their experiences?

I'm not bessie mates with them so off the bat I can't vouch for that course, but both my ex boyfriends also did Games Design. One took it at the University of East London - great tutors on the story development BA which is the one he took, but the programming BA, students of which we made friends with as well, was lackluster apparently. He's now in Denmark on his second year of his computer games MA, other people who graduated from his course have set up indie games companies.

The other took his course at London South Bank University (just across the road from LCC) and that one seemed pretty meh... but then just after he left they upgraded the department. Most of the graduates from that one, including my ex, have ended up doing QA testing, which is one way to get your foot in the door but not ideal. One or two of the better students have wound up doing design jobs in the industry, though.

But, yeah, LCC has a much, much better reputation as a college in general than UEL or LSBU but like I said I'm not really aware of what the course is like 'cause I'm only vague acquaintances with the LCC games graduates. But if you want me to ask any of these people if I can pass their emails to you (I'm on good terms with my ex's, just in case you were wondering if that would be a problem), let me know, and I'll send you a PM if anyone's up for being contacted.

 

[Esotera]

The disadvantage with choosing an undergraduate degree in anything this specific is that it limits your options. If you went ahead and studied Computer Science with Fine Arts then you'd have a load of other industries opened up to you...it all depends on how set on your plan you are.

Game design also seems pretty damn demoralising, and pays way less than equivalent jobs in the software industry, so only do it if you really love it.

 

[C4tt4nn4]

Wow.. Thank you guys for all this info! Gonna definitely take this into consideration over the next months.

 

[Gennadios]

I got a game design degree, I wouldn't say it was a total waste as I really didn't know what else to do with my time anyway, but things hadn't been easy.

I have portfolio projects and a crap ton of self-taught skills and coding samples, and... yeah, couldn't land shit. I have to compete for normal programming jobs with people with alot more work experience, the only real career options I have is game tester. My only reliable gig was 6 months at a social games company I won't name, revenue went to shit after two years, who whould have thunk it?

So... I'm back working the same corporate security job that got me through Uni in the first place and am applying for the police department.

If you go through with it, make sure to take as many internships as you can while studying, kiss ass and build up as many LinkedIn connections as you can. It's a who you know, not what you know business.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

If you speak fluent French and want to get into video game design take a bunch of French/English literature courses along with your video game design.. Being a localiser might not have been your initial idea of making video games, but localisers make obscene amounts of money.. If you aren't set on making games and just want something that'll qualify you for a high paying job go all out computer science cause arts don't qualify you for diddly
...well that's the situation in North America, maybe it's different across the pond, but if you wanna work in the Canadian north (like north of 60) you can make 75k+ a year (salaried) with just a bachelors