Reassuring Parents about Game Degrees

January 2nd, 2008 by Marc Olano

I almost missed it with the holidays and all, but game career site gamecareerguide.com had an interesting article at the end of last month entitled “Reassuring Parents about Game Degrees” by Andrew Tuson, who heads the Department of Computing at City University London. He makes a bunch of great points, all of which apply at least as much, if not more, for programs on this side of the pond. In particular:

• “Are there jobs…” - He mentions jobs in the UK, but the industry is clearly booming in the US, and a number of the major Baltimore area game companies have been growing.
• “How can a degree help…” - I agree with his points 100%. There are plenty of examples of people working in the industry who don’t have a game-focused degree, but we’ve talked to lots of game developers, and they all agree. They are desperate for skilled people. Anyone can learn to play a game without formal training, but only a select few can learn game development without formal training.
• “Will a game degree be recognized outside of the games industry” - We came to the same conclusion he does. A “game degree” may not mean much outside the games industry. A game-focused version of a regular degree (Computer Science or Art) can be your ticket into the games industry, but can also just be a fun way to get that regular degree that will be widely recognized.
• “Are game degrees a soft option” - Hardly! Ask any student taking an advanced graphics or AI or parallel programming class (Cell processing anyone?). Just be sure to ask them both if it’s easy, and if it’s fun!

GameCareerGuide is a great site, by the way, run by the same people who do gamasutra, game developer magazine, and the annual Game Developers Conference. Well worth a look.

Posted in CS, Careers, UMBC classes, Visual Arts |

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