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Game Development courses at university

Hi, I’m currently in year 12 studying maths, physics, psychology and computing AS level. I’ve recently been looking at game development courses and I’ve come across a few decent ones. The one I’m most interested in is UWE Bristol https://courses.uwe.ac.uk/G611/games-technology

However, I’ve heard a lot of people say that when looking to go into game dev, computer science courses are far more useful than game dev courses. Is there any truth to this? I don’t massively enjoy computer science and it could possibly be a struggle if I were to take it but have heard that it opens a lot more doors.

P.S Although I’m not that into computer science as a whole, I’m extremely passionate about making games and do so often in my free time.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks!

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by BenDSi

I'm really not a fan of doing game development degrees at uni, but they are available if you really want to do them.

Yes, as far as I know computer science degrees are more helpful than game development degrees for jobs in the sector. However, you would likely be focused on programming more than anything else - there's more to game development.
As computer science degrees are more widespread and more difficult than game development degrees, they tend to be more respected in the sector.

As you have already figured out, you don't need a degree to design games. In fact, to get into the industry, you don't really need a degree at all. You would need a portfolio and need to have very good skills for the role though. See:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/game-developer
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/computer-games-developer
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/game-designer
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/design/job-profile/computer-games-developer
https://life-pilot.co.uk/job-sectors/games/job-profile/computer-games-developer

Do also note the difference between game design and game development. The former is more arty, the latter involves programming. There are also other roles involved e.g. sounds, testing, planning, production etc. (see for example: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/game-development-roles) Game development is more commonplace and more in demand because fewer people are willing to code, whereas you get plenty of people who like to design, manage/boss around, etc

Personally, I would do a qualification in unity (see: https://unity.com/products/unity-certifications) than do a degree in computer science. However, that's just me

Do also note that I don't work in game design nor am I currently designing games, so take the above with a pinch of salt.