So, you’ve decided you want to be a game developer, and that you want to get qualified, but now what? Or, more importantly, where?

Game development is the new in thing, and more and more institutions are offering courses that claim to prepare you for the industry. There are even special ‘Game Dev’ schools out there that focus on the subject.

The main options out there are traditional computer science degrees, a ‘games degree’, a specialist course from somewhere such as Digipen or Fullsail (for the Americans out there), or a BTEC in games development.

The first thing you need to consider is if you really want to be a game developer. The games industry has a bad reputation for long hours, never ending ‘crunch times’, and rapid burnouts. Not all of that reputation is deserved, but there is a reason that IGDA (the International Game Developers Association) has a Quality of Life SIG (Special Interest Group) - things could still do with some improvement.

Even if you get a job with a nice company that lets you work reasonable hours, you still have to consider job stability - if the project you are working on fails and you end up out of a job, what will you do?

That scenario is one reason why a traditional degree can come in handy. If you have a more specialised games qualification then getting a normal IT job could be more of a struggle unless the institution that gave you the qualification is a respected one.

Of course, the same goes the other way around - you may need a little more work on your portfolio to convince a games company that you are qualified to work for them if you do a traditional degree that does not include any game related options, but you were going to make a great portfolio anyway, right?

If you choose the BTEC National Diploma route, then you will gain more vocational experience, which could work to your advantage if you find an employer that recognises the quality of the qualification. A degree, for the moment, is a more universal choice, but when the course matures that should change as more employers learn of it.

If you can’t find a good university near you, or don’t want to move for whatever reason, then theres always distance learning - take care to make sure that the course is respected in the industry - ask around on game development related forums to see if anyone else has done the course. Ask to speak to graduates if possible, and find out what people who have taken, or are taking, the course think of it. The important things to consider on top of the usual (such as what is covered in the course) are the pace of teaching and the amount of support offered. Distance learning can be lonely at times - are there student groups in your area? Do they offer web based chat or seminars? Will you have a tutor who will answer your questions promptly?

For some people, money is important too - some of the courses can be very expensive, and while traditional qualifications can be covered by government grants (the Open University for example, counts as part time study for grant purposes) this is not true for all courses, so it is worth checking out any scholarships on offer.

If you do opt for a more traditional campus university, then make sure you check out the facilities and speak to the lecturers. For general Computer Science courses it should be enough to make sure they are keeping up to date with the industry, and to check what sort of technologies they are teaching. In an industry like this things move so fast that often what you learn today will not be what you are using tomorrow, the important thing at university is to learn the basic concepts and to ‘learn how to learn’, but if you are being taught on an outdated technology ask why - sometimes it could be because it is a very good teaching tool, other times it could be because they don’t know anything else - then its time to worry.

If you are going for a games degree then it might be worth digging deeper. How much is games related in the course, and how much is general IT? Of the general stuff - why was it included? If its a good course then there will be a reason - perhaps you need the knowledge for something more advanced you will do later, or perhaps the knowledge will help you in the work place.

Talk to the lecturers - do they play games? Do they understand the industry? Do they have any contacts in the industry that have offered suggestions for the curriculum or that would be willing to give talks during the year?

Northumbria University for example, have links with some game companies in their local area, and make an effort to attend conferences and keep up to date with developments in both the programming and design areas of the game world.

If you’ve read this far, the chances are you now have more questions about your chosen route. None of them are easy, but hopefully those questions will help you choose the best one for you.

Article by Lesley Harrison.