Games Programming

Games programming is the technical specialism that creates the interactive systems at the heart of video games. While game design asks what a game should be and how it should play, games programming addresses how it is made to work: the mathematics of physics simulation, the algorithms that manage game state and artificial intelligence, the data structures that allow enormous virtual worlds to run in real time, and the programming languages and engines through which all of this is built. It is a technically demanding discipline that draws on computer science fundamentals and applies them in one of the most creatively and commercially dynamic sectors in technology.

At Teesside University, this three-year full-time programme is grounded in the mathematics, algorithms, and data structures that are essential for both computer science and games, putting first principles into an applied context and developing problem-solving skills that are genuinely transferable across the industry and beyond it. A sandwich year is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to work in a games development studio or technology company before your final year. Work placement is also available.

Teesside is located at the heart of a growing games industry cluster and has strong connections with regional and national studios.

You will study programming, graphics programming, engine architecture, artificial intelligence for games, physics simulation, and the software engineering practices that professional development requires. Projects are a central part of the programme, giving you a portfolio of work that demonstrates your capabilities to employers.

Graduates go on to work as gameplay programmers, engine developers, AI programmers, graphics engineers, and technical artists in games studios of all sizes, as well as in related roles in simulation, virtual reality, interactive media, and software engineering more broadly. Postgraduate study in games programming or computer science is an option for those wishing to develop specialist expertise.