Course content
Level 4 is where your journey into game art truly begins. Through hands-on modules like 3D Props and Materials, Digital Sculpting Studio: Characters & Game Assets, Visual Art Skills for Games, and Worldbuilding Studio: Real-Time Environments, you will master the core tools and digital workflows used across the industry. By sharpening your observational skills, visual analysis and design principles, you won't just learn how to build epic characters and real-time worlds; you will develop the fundamental practical, intellectual and creative skills needed to start shaping your own unique artistic voice.
Level 5 is all about refining your craft and finding your edge. Through specialist modules, optional pathways, and the Collab module, you will dive into open, research-driven briefs that mirror real-world studio pipelines. This level pushes you to develop independent creative enquiry, iterative problem-solving and intermediate production techniques. You will learn to justify your creative and technical decisions while mastering discipline-specific skills, engaging with contemporary practice through live critique sessions and development logs to elevate your work to a professional standard.
Level 6 is where it all comes together. Through massive major projects like the Games Development Project, the Games Art and Concepts Live Brief, and specialist 30-credit modules, you will synthesise everything you've learned into sophisticated, self-directed work. This final year completely mirrors the industry, demanding advanced creative, technical and critical abilities as you independently manage workflows and negotiate professional-standard briefs. By applying deep research, critically reflecting on your outcomes, and mastering autonomous practice, you will create a high-calibre portfolio tailored for employment or further study, fully preparing you to launch straight into the creative industries.
Professional body accreditation
Accredited by TIGA (The Independent Game Developers' Association) as delivering skills relevant to the games industry. TIGA accreditation is applicable to courses meeting any of a wide range of games industry needs, such as programming, art, design and entrepreneurship.
Modules
The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module.
Worldbuilding Studio: Real-Time Environments
In this studio-simulated module, youll step into the role of a real-time environment artist and help build a shared, playable game world in Unreal Engine. Working as part of a small team, youll create your own playable environment that connects into a larger game level or world, gaining first-hand experience of how studios collaborate to deliver coherent worlds at scale.Youll develop core worldbuilding and environment art skills, from blockout and layout through to lighting, set dressing, visual hierarchy and environmental storytelling. Youll learn practical Unreal Engine workflows such as asset setup, materials, collision and optimisation basics. Youll also explore introductory real-time systems including simple Blueprint interactions and procedural tools to bring your world to life.Alongside production, youll build professional habits through version control, studio-style reviews and feedback, and presenting your work in a group world showcase, helping you gain confidence talking about your creative and technical decisions in a professional setting. By the end of the module, youll have a portfolio-ready playable environment and a clearer understanding of real-time worldbuilding pipelines used in modern game development.
Module code: GDEV40052
Digital Sculpting Studio: Characters And Game Assets
In this studio-based module, youll work as a character and asset artist within a collaborative production team, creating stylised characters and game assets designed for use in a shared, playable game world.The focus is on strong visual language, clear shapes, bold silhouettes and appealing proportions (rather than realistic anatomy), reflecting the stylised approaches used in many modern games.Youll sculpt a stylised character and a set of game-ready assets, developing them through a simplified production pipeline that mirrors professional studio practice. Alongside hands-on sculpting, youll learn how assets are prepared for real-time use, considering topology, baking and optimisation so your work can be shared and integrated by others.Studio-style reviews, feedback sessions and collaborative working help you build confidence talking about your work, responding to critique and contributing effectively within a team. By the end of the module, youll have portfolio-ready characters and assets that feed directly into a larger playable environment, giving you a clear sense of how stylised sculpting fits into real-world game development pipelines.
Module code: GDEV40034
Visual Art Skills For Games
This module helps you learn how to see like an artist and translate observation into confident visual work for games and digital media. Through guided life drawing, observational studies and creative exercises, you will develop core drawing and visual analysis skills using both traditional and introductory digital methods.You will explore proportion, form, volume, light and structure, learning how artists construct believable images from observation rather than guesswork. Alongside practical studio work, you will be supported in developing the ability to reflect on your own creative process, evaluate your progress and understand how your skills develop over time.By the end of the module, you will have built a focused portfolio that demonstrates growing confidence in visual fundamentals, providing a strong foundation for future study in games art, concept art and related creative disciplines.
Module code: GDEV40051
3D Props And Materials
This module introduces you to the core workflows used to create 3D assets for games. Youll learn how to model, texture and present simple game-ready props, building confidence with industry-relevant tools and real-time pipelines.Through a mix of guided tutorials and independent work, youll develop essential skills in 3D modelling, UVs, materials and observational accuracy, using real-world reference to inform your designs. Youll also gain experience presenting your work in a real-time engine and reflecting on your creative and technical process.Designed for students new to 3D game art, this module lays a strong foundation for future environment art, prop creation and real-time production workflows
Module code: GDEV40031
Game Production Studio
You will work in a group consisting of peers from across the suite of games development courses, forming a multidisciplinary team that mirrors a real development studio. Together, you will plan, prototype and deliver a vertical slice of a game.The module places strong emphasis on collaboration, communication and professional conduct. You will learn how to work effectively within a team, manage workflows across different disciplines, give and receive constructive feedback, and adapt to the challenges of shared production pipelines. Alongside their technical development, you will build key soft skills such as leadership, organisation, problem solving and time management, all of which are essential for a successful career in the games industry.
Module code: GDEV50060
Real-Time Environment Art: Organic Worlds
This module introduces the production of organic real-time environments, with a focus on natural modelling, foliage creation, material blending, lighting and atmosphere. You will develop a contained environment scene while applying industry-relevant environment art workflows suitable for real-time engines.Building on prior environment art study, the module emphasises practical application, artistic decision-making and an understanding of real-time constraints, supporting the development of coherent and visually engaging natural environments.
Module code: GDEV50077
Indie Art Development
This module explores indie game art production through the creation of a focused asset developed within a small diorama or asset-pack. You will work with realistic indie-scale constraints, learning how specialist assets are planned, built and presented as part of a cohesive scene rather than in isolation.Through practical production, you will develop efficient modelling, texturing and material workflows, apply optimisation principles, and assemble performance-conscious game-ready assets within a real-time engine. The module emphasises clarity, discipline and decision-making across the pipeline, supporting the development of broader generalist skills valued in small studio and independent teams.By the end of the module, you will have produced a concise, portfolio-ready outcome that demonstrates both focused artistic strengths and an understanding of how assets function within an optimised indie production context.
Module code: GDEV50063
Real-Time Character Art: Stylised Foundations
This module develops your understanding of the full real-time character production pipeline used in the games industry. You will learn how to sculpt, refine and optimise a character for real-time use, covering key stages such as retopology, UV layout, baking, texturing, posing and presentation within a game engine.Working from both realistic reference and stylised design approaches, you will explore how professional character artists translate anatomy, materials and visual identity into clear, readable and game-ready 3D characters. The module emphasises efficient workflows, artistic decision-making and portfolio-quality presentation aligned with contemporary industry practice.
Module code: GDEV50075
Advanced Modelling Showcase
This module develops advanced 3D modelling skills for real-time production, with a focus on artistic direction and technical execution. You will create a portfolio-ready asset using professional workflows in modelling, sculpting, materials, lighting, optimisation, and scene assembly.
Module code: GDEV60039
Final Year Project: Art Artefact
The visual language of modern games and digital art is constantly evolving, driven by new tools, innovative workflows, and emerging artistic practices. From concept design to real-time asset creation, artists are shaping ever more ambitious and expressive worlds. This module gives you the opportunity to engage deeply with this creative landscape through the development of an independent, high-quality artistic artefact.You will identify a self-directed artistic challenge or problem such as a character, environment, prop, visual development sequence, or thematic concept and produce an artefact or portfolio piece that responds directly to it. Working under supervision, you will research relevant artistic influences, explore advanced visual techniques, plan and execute a substantial piece of creative work, and document your process through a professionally presented development report.This module is designed for students who want to push their artistic voice, refine their craft, and produce a portfolio-quality piece that demonstrates readiness for professional studio practice or further specialised study. It encourages ambition, experimentation, and critical reflection, enabling you to showcase your creative identity and problem-solving abilities through a polished final artefact.
Module code: GDEV60050
Final Year Project: Collaborative Project
Game development is an inherently collaborative discipline. Modern studios rely on teams of designers, programmers, technical artists and production specialists working together to create complex interactive systems. This module gives you the opportunity to experience this collaborative environment by working as part of a team to produce a technical artefact.You will define a shared technical challenge and work with your group to create a playable game, interactive experience or applied games technology prototype. As a team, you will investigate relevant technologies, plan your development workflow, build and refine your artefact and document your progress through shared and individual evidence.Alongside team responsibilities, each student will take ownership of a defined area of contribution and produce a development document that records their personal workflow and technical decision making. The module concludes with a viva in which you will present the collaborative artefact and demonstrate both team understanding and individual accountability.This module is designed for students who want to strengthen their technical skills while developing the collaborative and communicative abilities that are essential for professional game development and wider creative technology industries.
Module code: GDEV60051
Games Art And Concepts Live Brief
This module places you in a simulated professional studio environment, working to a live-style games art brief aligned with current industry standards. You will interpret a client brief, develop and refine ideas, and produce polished concept art or game-ready assets that meet defined artistic, technical and production requirements.Alongside the practical project, you will develop essential professional communication skills. You will present your work through a structured project presentation and take part in a mock industry interview, articulating your creative decisions, workflows and problem-solving in a client-focused context.By mirroring real-world studio practices and recruitment processes, the module builds confidence, professional awareness and employability, preparing you to present your work effectively and transition into industry or related creative roles.
Module code: GDEV60056
Final Year Project: Dissertation
This module allows you to investigate an emerging area of game development through an independent technical research project. Working with a supervisor, you will define a research question, explore it through academic and technical investigation, create a practical artefact, and evaluate your findings in a written dissertation. The module is ideal for students seeking to deepen their technical expertise and produce a substantial portfolio piece that supports progression into industry, postgraduate study or research and development roles.
Module code: GDEV60052