H aving served as a director at Zenimax Online, Riot Studios and Io-Interactive, senior lecturer in Digital Games Rich Barham’s CV features a dazzling list of credits that includes World Of Warcraft, League Of Legends, The Elder Scrolls Online and Hitman. He continues to be active in the industry he teaches about, too: he’s currently the CEO of Octopus 8 Studios, Io’s operations director, and a board member for Antimatter Games.

What kind of courses do you offer?
Our courses offer a broader game education where there is time to consider development and the conceptual and cultural issues around games alongside hands-on experience of working in a development studio context. We also teach business skills and our courses are designed so students are equipped with the skills to set up their own indie companies. With our degrees in BA (Hons) Digital Games and BSc (Hons) Computing for Games, we’re offering a great foundation whichever route into the industry you wish to follow.

In practical terms, what advantage does that foundation give students? As someone who has seen a great many applications from those without a game education attempt to enter the industry, there’s a lack of consistent understanding of how to not make your game in a vacuum and practical team learning that’s missing with those who haven’t been fortunate enough to undertake a game course. With places in the industry being as competitive as they are, this type of knowledge is of paramount importance.

What makes Falmouth University special in this respect? Falmouth is a heavily creative area. It attracts many creatives with a variety of interests and has a long history rooted in both the university and the local, supportive culture. This is a huge advantage. Our students are taught by people with a great deal of industry experience, and who are currently conducting research into games and game technology. Our tutors can give the time to provide a well-structured learning experience that helps students to make the transition to studio working practices. And that’s all in the context of a very friendly, arts-based campus in the most spectacular landscape!

What about facilities?
We have dedicated, industry-standard game development studios, and industry-standard animation, audio and music facilities are also available to students. The university has invested a great deal of money to support game education and research, and as the course grows in strength, so will the scope of our facilities. We have access to a sandpit space that’s perfect for brainstorming meetings, and a well-equipped life room for artists, as well as many breakout spaces that are scattered around the university and in The Exchange. On a lovely spring day, students can hold their stand-up meetings in the blossoming orchard or in the formal gardens of the 18th-century house around which the university has been built.

And how about links between Falmouth and the industry?
My own background is primarily with successful triple-A studios, and Nick Dixon has a long and storied career. Our course was set up with direct industry involvement, including Supermassive Games’ Steve Goss, and with the support of Antimatter Games, a local studio in Cornwall. Collectively, we have the experience of having been a part of some of the biggest studios as well as smaller but no less successful outfits, and our ability to help students develop anywhere in that spectrum is strong as a result.

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Andrew Richardson and Chris Knowles are programme leaders for, respectively, BA (Hons) Game and App Design and BSc (Hons) Games Software Development. Both have varied CVs, Richardson having created and exhibited interactive artwork internationally, while Knowles is an experienced software developer. Here, they explain the broad reach of Sunderland’s offering.

What courses can be studied at Sunderland University?
Andrew Richardson We offer a wide suite of programmes that covers all aspects of game design, from concept artwork and creative ideas right through to programming and software development. For example, BA (Hons) Game and App Design focuses on creative indie development; BSc (Hons) Game Software Development is about game software design, development and programming; and BA (Hons) Animation and Games Art looks at concept artwork, plus 2D and 3D character design.

For you, what is the value in seeking out a game education?
AR You can learn a lot from online tutorials, but for me, it’s the shared experience of learning from others that’s important, as well as the opportunity to develop creative ideas and open up to new ways of thinking and working.

Chris Knowles Being in a formal environment instils the discipline to produce good quality, effective products in a timely fashion, which you wouldn’t get at home. University provides the time for students to develop, gain and share expertise and improve their communication skills so that they can pitch their products to clients. Making games can be a challenging but rewarding career, and we want to ensure our students are ready for that. An educational environment provides a chance to experiment and to make mistakes that aren’t costly.

What sets your offering apart?
CK We have a student-centred focus, and provide excellent individual support and guidance. We have committed staff who have a wealth of industry experience and who bring a real enthusiasm for their work. Our Games Software Development course has recently been revalidated in line with the new Creative Skillset requirements to ensure that our course is relevant and prepares students for industry.

AR And our Game And App course has a focus on indie startups and is very enterprise focused. Students have recently voted Sunderland the top University in the North East in the annual WhatUni Student Choice Awards.

What kind of facilities do you offer?
AR We have two campuses, which are perfectly placed to ensure a life-changing student experience, and a suite of Cintiq [graphics tablets] in the design centre. We use industry-standard software, including Unity and Maya, and our Game Hub ensures that each student gets their own workspace.

CK We also have game laboratories and are part of the PlayStation First Academic Development Programme, and the university is a member of the PS4 development kits and supporting software programme, too. That grants us the licence to Sony game console devkit hardware and software. We also use 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, Unreal Engine 4 and Visual Studio 13.

What industry ties have you built?
CK We’ve developed partnerships with a number of major companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Cisco and BlackBerry. These partnerships allow students to experiment with cutting-edge and current applications, and many partners provide hardware and software for our courses, including Sony, as I said, but also Microsoft console technologies, and BlackBerry smartphones and tablets.

AR We’re also a leading partner in the Sunderland Software City initiative, which aims to develop the software industry in our city and region.

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