The BA Video Game Art undergraduate degree course responds to the growing demand for skilled, team-orientated, reflexive graduate professionals ready to succeed.

Interactive entertainment and video games development are key sectors for contemporary culture, economic growth and employment locally in the Midlands, nationally and globally.

This accelerated two-year course gives you a guaranteed video game development placement in our in-house studio, which will take place over the summer term of the course. The workplace simulation approach of our department (School of Games, Film and Animation) has been championed by the influential 2009 Livingstone Next Gen Report, which cited us as a national best practice example for developing new talent for the games industry.

• This fast-track programme provides a rare opportunity to secure a BA (Hons) degree in only two years.
• Students are satisfied with this course! We scored 100 per cent for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2019 & 2020.
• Guaranteed placement in our summer development team in your first year of study.
• Teaching is delivered by our team of industry practitioners, who collectively have over 100 years of video game industry experience, having worked on franchises such as EA’s ‘Battlefield’, Codemaster’s ‘Formula 1’ and Sega’s ‘Sonic’. They have also taught, trained and mentored students, graduates and practitioners, who are now successful industry developers, working at studios and publishers which include Ubisoft, Microsoft and Rockstar North.
• During the two-year course you’ll work on numerous projects with periodic input from industry partners. Previous partners and mentors have included Codemasters, Pixel Toys, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe, Microsoft’s Rare Studio and Rockstar North.
• On the course you’ll learn a range new skills and art disciplines relevant and appropriate for careers in the field of video game development, such as concept, environment, character, GUI and animation.
• This course will develop you to be able to move into employment, or further study, for example on our Industry-recognised Master’s Courses, Gamer Camp, which is a finishing school for game developers (coders, artists, designers and producers) based at Birmingham City University. On our Masters courses, you’ll get intensive, practical training from our top industry-experienced team, you’ll tackle real game briefs set with input from globally recognised developers/publishers, and you’ll experience all stages of the games development process, ultimately providing you with a great portfolio of work to get a job in AAA Video Game Development.

Mature Applicants

Applications from mature students (21+) with alternative qualifications and/or considerable work experience will be considered on their merits.

The course is structured around teaching you new skills and allowing you, where and when possible, the freedom to experiment and experience putting your new skills into practice through stakeholder-directed live projects.

Typically, this means modules are split into taught modules and studio-based project modules.

Taught modules

In the taught modules the focus is on your personal development as a professional artist, where you will also learn professional project management methodologies to help you deliver you design projects. You will take modules which focus on the development of skills for specific roles within the sector. For example, you will gain an understanding of the history and fundamentals of game design, looking at 2D and 3D game spaces and analysing advanced and strategic game design.

Studio-based project modules

The BA (Hons) Video Game Digital Art course is all about providing you with the crucial experience-based learning you'll need for your career. To this end during the summer term, you will be required to attend an in-house work placement. During this placement, you will be required to attend full-time and have opportunity to use development tools such as Unity and Unreal.

Assessment

This is a two-year accelerated undergraduate degree course with professional game development studio experience embedded as part your learning journey.

You'll be assessed in a variety of different ways, including practical project work – both group and individual – presentations, written reports and practical portfolios.

Assessment is embedded into the course, which will mean your learning experience isn't constantly interrupted by assessment. You are also assessed on your work within a project delivery team while you are based in our simulated in-house studio environment.

On the course, you'll be taught by established industry professionals with a wealth of expertise and enthusiasm, who are experienced at recognising and responding to the rapidly changing demands the industry.

Projects

At the beginning of every module you will be given a project brief. Throughout the module you will then have taught sessions to help you fulfil the brief, followed by tutorials to monitor your progress and give you guidance and feedback.

Below is an example* from the 2D Art Production module. Please note, this is just an indicative brief and the actual briefs may vary every year.

Overview: Ghosts & Goblins – MetalSlug – Rygar – create a contemporary classic

• Rygar
• Ghosts and Goblins
• Metal Slug

Take ONE of these classic games and create concepts for an updated version for the Target Hardware – Tablet (iOS, Android). It must include the following key features: a main Character, multiple enemies, environments (at least THREE GUI elements), pre-visualisation and art style.

You have three art styles to choose from for your updated game: Scooby Doo (Original), Loony Toons or Steven Universe. Please pick ONE art style and after analysis/research, create a Style Bible for your new game. This art style must be used to inform future art production decisions.

End of year showcase

The end of year summer showcase gives you the chance to showcase some of the work you’ve completed over the past academic year to high profile industry guests. 

Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.

The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.

Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:

• Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
• Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
• Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
• Learn where to find financial support for your studies.

The UK remains one of the world's leading study destinations

The UK remains one of the world's leading study destinations for international students.

The first-class experience offered by universities are reflected in the world’s largest survey of international students. International students are more likely to recommend the UK than any other leading English-language study destination.

Our School of Games, Film and Animation is based in the Curzon Building, a £63 million development, located on our City Centre campus.

We help you learn a specific discipline such as digital marketing, programming or art and put that discipline into practice by offering flexible teaching space, dedicated development studios and open access work areas for group projects, as well as course-specific facilities.