Master Degree on Videogame Programming

Hey Davis!

I'm all for getting a 4 year degree in game programming but anything above that seems to be a waste.

Video game programming is still so young that things change all the time and frankly i don't think they have enough concrete, static knowledge to make a masters or doctoral program that means anything.

Long story short, why not get your masters in computer science, it's a much more respected and versatile degree and will get you where you want to be anyhow.

Maybe you could minor in video games or some video game related field? :P

My $0.02 :P

RIT does offer a Masters in Game Design and Development: http://games.rit.edu/

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Original post by davis31 I've decided to take a Master Degree in Videogame Programming (or Developing or Designing or whatever they want to call it).

Is this because that is your passion, or is this because you think it will get you a job?

If that is your passion, then great. If it is to get a job, I suggest you don't bother with it.

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So, I would like to know which Universities (not only in Europe but around the World) do you think that offer good Masters in Videogames.

I have not heard of any, anywhere.

The difficulty of a games-specific degree is that it limits your career choices generally.

For programming, I suggest a traditional computer science degree in a field that interests you. The games community needs programmers who have expertise in graphics, networking, AI, user interfaces and CHI, and just about all the other research areas.

If it turns out that you seek a job in another field other than games, then your masters degree will still apply. If you try to get a job with another tech company outside games, they will not see much value in a game degree, even at a graduate level.

One masters degree program I can recommend is the EA/UCF Interactive Entertainment Academy.

http://www.fiea.ucf.edu/

I've been to the campus and I must say, having already finished grad school in regular CS, I'm a bit jealous. They are doing some extremely cool stuff there. Check out their projects page.

There's also Guildhall at SMU:

http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/

There's a banner ad for them on this site. Both of those schools have job placement programs with connections to many game companies.

What I can tell you is that games require actually a heart that doesn't allow you to do the job half-finished/barely working/so that the result is annoying for the player.
If you want that degree only for work, then I'm quite unhappy to see another one "soldier that only fights for the war of his own" who doesn't care what a game does. There are too much of people like this already in the industry. Sorry.

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I've decided to take a Master Degree in Videogame Programming (or Developing or Designing or whatever they want to call it).

Those actually are three different things, and two of them are not really connected to programming / CS.

Anyway, I can say that their degree is sh*t. I learned it all (things that they're teaching and much more) in less then 3 years and you want to spend 4 years on it?
I can only suggest you to take a higher CS degree (or do some self-teaching, it's more than possible in these years) and by the time you get it you should know if you really want to be a game programmer. :)

Ok, let's clarify some things.

First of all, answering to snake5 and also frob I would like to say that definitely NO! I've been playing games my whole life, enjoyed them and in the last years also programming them. So that won't be only a job but a dream I'd like to come true.
Moreover I'm not really a fan of Mega-Enterprises games. I prefer indie and original games.

You're really making me doubt! On the one hand I really like this Universities (FIEA looks so cool!) but on the other hand I don't want to close doors... I'd really apreciate more opinions about that!

I've also seen that some of you talk about spending four years but what I'm searching is something specific of one or two years... maybe the Master concept in Spain is not exactly the same as in the USA.

I hope that helps a little, thank you for your help!

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Original post by davis31 I've also seen that some of you talk about spending four years but what I'm searching is something specific of one or two years... maybe the Master concept in Spain is not exactly the same as in the USA.

Generally a master's degree program is two years, some people spend a third.

Many finish in less than two years if they seriously apply themselves as a full-time student. A friend of mine attended for one year plus a semester from beginning to end.

All schools have a maximum time limit before courses expire, and most have a time limit before you are kicked out of the program. Most drop you after four or five years. A few seconds on Google shows several schools that drop you after three years of full-time enrollment.

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but a dream I'd like to come true

I'm so glad to hear that. :)
So, I suggest you to start working on a bigger project that you could show at the place where you're going to work. That will be a lot more valuable to you than some degrees but it will at most take the same time. :)

@People:
its nice to have a Doctrine piece of paper that's all fancy and says your trained to work in that particular field...but in video games you gotta do better and save your cash and money for books and the materials that most universities and colleges just charge you an arm and a leg to gain access for ex $80,000usd min. or more alone? annually? Hasn't the history of garage video game hobby modders' taught you all anything? do it your self and be patient, work hard or go stumble in the dark like the crazy people in here with the clouds in their heads. Those papers mean nothing at start, zip... You want to create video games? then just go to it, learn as much as you can and yes Computer Science is the default field of study though I'd stick to my prof. go to man Bjarne Stroustrup through his books and study. Also related I offer free Internship and no moving from the seat of your computer if you want, more of that in a new post. Good Luck its why where here, to learn. I today still learn of course I'm self taught, but that is how we all generally started to learn video games. Sorry if it seemed I was rough, I just hate rookie mistakes like this from the "next-gen" creators.


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do it your self and be patient, work hard or go stumble in the dark like the crazy people in here with the clouds in their heads. Those papers mean nothing at start

I started out with programming on my own in early teen-hood. It's a great way to start, but don't underestimate the value of a proper education on top of that.

I agree that papers alone doesn't mean squat. However, university education is generally much more effective than trial&error on your own. You learn from people who've already made the mistakes so you don't have to. Also, universities tend to be filled with a lot of smart people which is a good thing if you're stuck on a problem.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen professional, experienced game developers implement bubble sort instead of quick sort because it's the only sorting algorithm they learned on their own 20 years ago. (not to mention the fact that they don't even know about the stdc qsort function)

That's a mistake you'll never see a computer science graduate make. ;-)

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Original post by ofingle I started out with programming on my own in early teen-hood. It's a great way to start, but don't underestimate the value of a proper education on top of that. "...Also, universities tend to be filled with a lot of smart people which is a good thing if you're stuck on a problem. ...That's a mistake you'll never see a computer science graduate make. ;-)"

You forgot to say the magic geeks word i.e. Intelligent, lol there's a small difference. True a Degree "can" offer more and is whats ADVERTISED by all vocational education schools here in America. Although, it depends on where and how much cash you want to be indebted yourself. Most Americans cant afford the majority of basic collages or universities yet they proceed at their own risk to their financial health and jump into the colossal abyss of debt form loans and credit cards.

It baffles the mind why not be smart and survive? save your cash? Then pursue what you thought was great to begin with. Also the majority of schools lack the educational backbone to support the normal average individual for what they refer as the "real-world" due to their own financial problems among other things. I value good Education but not by any financial means. So I of course say we differ in opinion. You actually have more tools and minds at your disposal than any American did at start. Many tools I use and tinker with are from "across the pond" as the (UK)English say. I'm just speaking from hard earned experiences.

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I started out with programming on my own in early teen-hood. It's a great way to start, but don't underestimate the value of a proper education on top of that.

MIT offers free video lessons. Anyone should understand them because they're really simple. There's no need for a good and expensive education if the things that you have taught yourself are working just fine.

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Original post by snake5 MIT offers free video lessons. Anyone should understand them because they're really simple. There's no need for a good and expensive education if the things that you have taught yourself are working just fine.

Sure, you can learn everything on your own. The litterature is available for everyone, academic papers are "public domain", and the internet thingy has lots of resources these days. You could argue that all schools are superfluous because it's possible to learn it all on your own.

As for the OP. If you do want a degree I would suggest, as others have, a standard computer science degree.

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MIT offers free video lessons

Yes! MIT's OCW is pretty awesome. ...but I recommend actually going to MIT - it's much more fun. :P

But on a more serious note, if you want to code and you want a degree for it, get a CS degree.

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Original post by ofingle You could argue that all schools are superfluous because it's possible to learn it all on your own.

No, just trade schools.

While they all carry the name of University these days, and they all give equivalent degrees, there is a world of difference between actual university course and simple 2/3 year program.

I mean, FFS, 2 years for master's degree? My undergrad CS course was 4.5 (9 x 6 months) years.

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Original post by Antheus I mean, FFS, 2 years for master's degree? My undergrad CS course was 4.5 (9 x 6 months) years.

It seems that you don't understand it, then.

Undergraduate education has your general education and field-specific education. They cover the field, but not in depth.

Most of the time is spent teaching you how to learn and later apply the knowledge. The first two years of undergraduate studies (an associates degree) covers a broad general base, the next two years (a bachelors degree) focus on a field. You may not have picked up an associates degree along the way, but many people prefer to lock in the first degree at two years just in case something goes wrong later.


Graduate degrees are specialization you earn after your undergraduate courses. It is generally a focus on one specific thing, accompanied by a deeper study of the field in general.

The experience is very different than undergraudate studies. You work closely with one (and later three) doctoral professors on a daily basis. You are focused intensively on very specific topics. Since you already understand the basics you don't need to be distracted by picking them up.

When you see a BSc in Computer Science you know they have a reasonable exposure to the field. You might ask about their minor, but it is less important. When you see MSc, however, the first question always asked is 'What was your topic?' That specialization is extremely valuable.

So if one doesn't have a degree than how does that person get their resume past HR? I don't work in CS but in my field HR screens all applications and if the minimum qualifications are not me then the application never makes it to the hiring manager. There is an awful lot of people with college degrees these days. It is very competitive and a degree helps meet one of those qualifications. However if you know someone and can get your resume to a hiring manager directly, than thats another story. Just my $0.02.

DigiPen is a school that has been known around the world for it's game development bachelors degree. As well it is actually in what I call a pocket where Microsoft is (it is surrounded by MS campus). It also has a Masters program that you might want to look into. The company is based in the Seattle area which has a huge amount of gaming industries but it is quite a ways away from Spain.
https://www.digipen.edu/academics/degree-programs/computer-science/

Ok, so I think I've enough information. I'll have to think what to do but I think maybe doing something less specific would be a better solution. I'm thinking about something related with Networks or maybe AI.

It is not a problem if the campus is in the USA because I'll only take it if I get a grant that will cover everything (or almost everything). Let's hope I'm lucky :D

Thank you all for your opinions and your advice! I still have some time to decide so let's see what happens!