Games Art (with a Placement Year)
University of Staffordshire
UCAS Code: I74A | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of Staffordshire
UCAS Code: I74A | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Other A-level combinations that meet the required Tariff are acceptable.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
UCAS Tariff
About this course
With our Games Art degree, you will be able to get to grips with everything from environment and character creation to props, vehicle and weapon design.
If you want to create the amazing visual elements that are seen in games, our Games Art degree will provide you with the skills you need for a career as a 3D artist.
Throughout the course, you will study 3D modelling, digital sculpting, texturing, observational drawing and character design. You will also learn how to art direct your work as you apply the fundamentals of Art and Design theory to your coursework and skill development. Developing your own artistic workflow in the creation of your career portfolio is highly encouraged and supported during your study.
During your second and third years we provide you with the opportunity to choose from career specialisms within different pathways of study. This helps you to create a curated portfolio ready for the industry.
You can choose to specialise in the following pathways:
Character Art:
- Specialise in creating fantastic game ready creatures and characters using ZBrush and Marvelous Designer.
Environment Art:
- Specialise in world building and crafting detailed environments that immerse the player using the Autodesk creative suite, ZBrush, Substance, Houdini, Speed Tree and the Unreal Engine
On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BA (Hons) Games Art
Modules
Year One Core: 3D Asset Development; 3D Game Props: Pipeline and Production; Digital Sculpting and Stylised Assets; Level Art and Visual Storytelling; Principles of Textures and Materials; Visual Studies for Games
Year Two Core: Junior Collaborative Games Development
Year Two Optional: Art of Lighting; Digital Sculpting Human Anatomy; Games Materials and Surfacing; Hard Surface 3D Vehicle Production; Hard Surface 3D Weapon Production; Modular 3D Game Environments; Motion Capture and Animation; Organic 3D Game Environments; Realtime 3D Character Production; Stylised 3D Character Art
Year Three: Placement
Year Four Core: Games Art and Concepts Live Brief and Employability; Games Development Project; Senior Collaborative Games Development
Year Four Optional: Advanced Character Art; Advanced Environment Art; Advanced Game Creature Production; Advanced Hard Surface Vehicle Production; Advanced Hard Surface Weapon Production; Hero Prop Diorama
Assessment methods
Your course will provide you with opportunities to test your understanding of your subject informally before you complete the formal assessments that count towards your final mark. Each module normally includes practice or ‘formative’ assessments, for which you receive feedback from your tutor. Practice assessments are developmental and any grades you receive for them do not count towards your module mark. There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations, final year, independent project and written examinations. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Staffordshire (Stoke Campus)
Digital, Technology, Innovation and Business
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Design studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Computer games and animation
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Design studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Computer games and animation
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This is a relatively new subject area for this kind of data, so we don’t currently have very much information to display or analyse yet. Gaming is a growing industry, and if it continues to grow we should see the rather high unemployment rate coming down over the next few years. Much the most common jobs for graduates who do get work after six months are in programming roles - but as things stand, be aware that jobs in the field are very competitive and personal contacts - either through family, friends or via specialist employment agencies - are a crucial way into the industry so be prepared to talk as well as code!
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Design studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£16k
£19k
£21k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Computer games and animation
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£22k
£27k
£34k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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