The BA (Hons) Game Cultures degree was one of the first undergraduate courses to offer creative and critical skills in video game design, development and analysis rooted in a cultural and media studies perspective.

Unusually for a degree of this kind, 100% of the course is devoted to the study and production of videogames. As a Game Cultures student you won’t be required to take generalist media theory or computing science modules; instead, over your three years at London South Bank University, you will live and breathe videogames.

This degree is operated within the Arts and Human Sciences Faculty, rather than a Computing or Engineering Faculty. Our approach is grounded in the traditions of art and design, but, importantly, is informed by critical theories drawn from the rapidly growing field of videogame studies. You'll benefit from dedicated one-to-one guidance by our experienced tutors who are at the forefront of videogame studies research. As a result, you'll have access to a substantial body of cutting-edge research which will help foster your academic development.

The course has excellent ties with industry. All of our specialist staff work in the games industry, and we regularly host game industry events and welcome guest speakers. We pride ourselves on our ability to anticipate industry and academic trends, and encourage you to achieve your potential by applying this knowledge within your work.

The course balances practical game design and development with the study of videogame theory. Game Cultures will equip you with skills in game and level design, the fundamentals of life drawing and anatomy, the creation and manipulation of 2D graphics, 3D modelling, sound engineering, character design, animation, scriptwriting, and creative and organisational skills specific to game production and leadership roles.

You'll spend much of your production time planning, designing and prototyping games using applications such as:

• Adobe Photoshop and Flash
• 3D Studio Max
• Motion Builder
• the Unreal Development Kit
• the Unity Game Development Tool
• Cubase, Logic, Sound Forge, Audacity, Audition and FMod.

Game Cultures modules are predominantly taught in our specialist Game Studio, which features custom-built high-spec PCs and game consoles. Students have access to the Game Studio outside of teaching hours for playing games and working on game projects.

Study hours

Year 1 class contact time is typically 16 hours per week + individual tutorial + independent study.

Course modules

Year 1

• Game contexts (theory module)
• 2D game design
• Art and sound design
• Memory games (theory module)
• 3D modelling
• Industry and professional practice 1

Year 2

• Story design
• Game application development
• 3D level design
• Re:creation (theory module)
• Coding and programming
• Industry and professional practice 2

Year 3

• Advanced game project (triple module)
• Tangible play
• Dissertation (double module)

Brief assessment outline

Modules are assessed through individual and group game projects, production work related to industry roles (e.g. 3D model or game script), oral presentations and pitches, written reports and essays.

Employability and academic progression

If you want to pursue a design-related role within the game industry, or a game-related job in connected industries such as journalism or PR, this course is ideal for you.

Recent graduates have become designers, character and environmental artists, story designers, scriptwriters and sound designers. We expect some of these graduates to move into producer positions.

During the course we encourage you to engage with outside professional bodies as a means of increasing your profile and gaining experience. Our students have worked with TT Fusion, Crytek, THQ, Electronic Arts, Buena Vista (Disney’s game development arm), Squaresoft, Sega and PlayGen.

One group of our first-year students was commissioned by the BBC to produce freelance games content. And a group of our second-year students was successfully placed in the highly prestigious Dare to be Digital festival, sponsored by the BBC, Channel Four, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, the Scottish Executive and Rockstar.

If you graduate from this course, you will be able to apply for further study at postgraduate level.

LSBU is committed to supporting you develop your employability and succeed in getting a job after you have graduated. Your qualification will certainly help, but in a competitive market you also need to work on your employability, and on your career search. Our Employability Service will support you in developing your skills, finding a job, interview techniques, work experience or an internship, and will help you assess what you need to do to get the job you want at the end of your course. LSBU offers a comprehensive Employability Service, with a range of initiatives to complement your studies, including:

• direct engagement from employers who come in to interview and talk to students
• Job Shop and on-campus recruitment agencies to help your job search
• mentoring and work shadowing schemes.

Professional and industry links

The Game Cultures course has a large network of contacts that includes London, UK and international game companies and organisations. Our course staff has strong connections with Sony, Eidos, Nintendo, and video game magazine publishing houses including Future and Imagine.

Recent guest lecturers:

• James Wallis, Once Upon A Time
• Dan Pinchbeck, Dear Esther
• Tom Jubert, The Penumbra Series, Lost Horizon
• Rhianna Pratchett, Tom Raider, Heavenly Sword, Overlord, Mirror's Edge
• James Swallow, Deus Ex 3, Maelstrom, Star Trek Invasion
• Andrew S. Walsh, Prince of Persia, Risen, Harry Potter
• Rudolf Kremers, Eufloria
• Roisi Proven, Supermassive Games Ltd.
• Rob Bartholomew, Bethesda Softworks
• Josh Zammit, Electronic Arts
• Mark Morris and Chris Delay, Introversion.