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Master in Videogames: Design, Creation and Programming
Master in Videogames: Design, Creation and Programming
Turn your passion for the game into an in demand profession and become part of the video game industry, which has grown more than 10% annually in Spain in the last decade, with a turnover that already exceeds the music and cinema sectors.
The Master in Videogames: Design, Creation and Programming at the UPF Barcelona School of Management has been organized 20 times and is a reference in the videogame industry. It includes classes with programmers, artists, and professionals from companies such as Unreal, Digital Legends, 5 Ants, Mercury Steam, or Novarama. You will learn the latest project management techniques from the best video game professionals and they will teach you to work in a team, as well as to structure your project using milestones or deliverables, in the same way, that the industry works.
Why choose this program
Connection with the video game industry
The master includes classes with programmers, artists, and professionals with experience in video game design and development such as Unreal, Digital Legends, 5 Ants, Mercury Systems, or Novarama.
We give you the keys to launch your own studio
Some alumni have founded companies based on the video game they developed during the master's degree.
Booming profession and industry
The video game industry is the first in terms of audiovisual and interactive entertainment in Spain and continues to grow strongly and constantly.
Nationally and internationally awarded
Several of the projects designed and developed by students from previous master's courses have been nominated and won at Artfutura, at the 2014 Gamelab National Awards, at the Independent Games Festival in San Francisco and at the 2013 Indie DB.
Prestige
The master is directed by Daniel Sánchez-Crespo, CEO of Novarama, the first company in Spain to develop video games for Sony.
Who is it for?
For students interested in being part of the video game industry, dual-profile training (artist and programmer) allows the creation of teams of students who learn to work together and share experience just like in a company in the sector.
To be a video game artist, you don't need to know how to design. You just need to draw well and have good ideas, during the master you will learn the rest. Examples of artist profiles: Audiovisual Communication, Fine Arts, Architecture, Graphic Design, etc.
However, it is necessary to know how to program to be able to work as a coder in video games. We will not teach you to program, but to apply what you know to create video games. Examples of coder profiles: engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, telcos, programmers, etc.
Curriculum
The training is structured in three blocks. A first common block where you will learn the fundamental principles for the creation of video games, which will later help you to propose projects with a solid methodology. This training will be essential for both programmers and designers or artists.
In the second block, you must specialize in the role of programmer or designer to receive specific training in their field of action: the creation of the code of a video game or the design and development of content (graphics, sound, etc.).
The third block corresponds to the module of the final work, in which a collaborative project between the two profiles will be carried out.
Complementary activities
BSM Inside is a transversal and interdisciplinary module, common to all master's and postgraduate degrees at UPF Barcelona School of Management, which has been conceived to work on a set of key competencies for professional development in conjunction with the real needs of today's organizations.
This module extends throughout the academic year and is made up of 3 areas of knowledge that constitute the identity traits of the UPF-BSM: Communication; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; and Planetary Well-being and Humanities.
All the subjects of the BSM Inside module are 100% online and have been designed as self-learning subjects: from the first day of the subject until the end of the term you will have all the teaching materials available on the eCampus and you can work with the material and the different activities that it contains at your own pace, according to your availability and in a self-organized way.
Qualification obtained
Once you have passed the program, you will be awarded the degree of Máster en Videojuegos: Creación, Diseño y Programación, issued by the Pompeu Fabra University.
Faculty
The Master is directed by Daniel Sánchez-Crespo, founder and CEO of Novarama. The extraordinary team of teachers is made up of programmers, artists, and professionals from leading companies in the video game industry, such as Unreal, Digital Legends, 5 Ants, Mercury Systems, or Novarama.
Academic directors
Adjunct professor BSM
Full Professor UPF-BSM
- Joan Abadia
Founder and Lead Programmer at Novarama.
Bachelor in Telecommunications Engineering.
Adjunct lecturer in the Information Technology and Communications Department at Pompeu Fabra University. He was also a technology developer at Realidad Aumentada. - Oscar Civit
Master in Management, Marketing and PR from ESERP Business School.
Communication and Public Relations Manager at Ubisoft Barcelona. - Alberto Díaz
Director of Art at Novarama.
Lecturer of 3D Art and Art Coordinator for the Master in Video Game Creation at Pompeu Fabra University. - Marc De Miquel Puchades
Lead Animator at Novarama.
Bachelor in Computer Engineering from La Salle Bonanova.
Lecturer in Animation.
Methodology
We emphasize the value of teamwork from day one, just as it happens in the video game industry. During the course you will carry out 5 different projects:
- Design Project (in pairs, Unreal)
- Art Project (in pairs, 3DSMax)
- Production Project (in pairs, Excel/Word)
- Personal project (art or code)
- Final Project (in a team of artists and programmers)
2 specialization pathways
You can choose between specializing as an artistic director or in video game programming.
Fully practical approach
During the master you will carry out individual and team projects with other students to put into practice the acquired knowledge: video game programming, design and development, games for mobile devices, etc.
Professionally active teaching staff from the sector
Your teachers are programmers, artists, and professionals from companies such as Unreal, Digital Legends, 5 Ants, Mercury Systems, or Novarama.
Find work thanks to the projects
The projects and games that you will develop during the master's degree will be your cover letter to find a job as a professional. They do not want to see a CV in this sector but projects that you have undertaken.
Evaluation
The master consists of a theoretical part with exams, but most of the work is focused on the development of practical projects with a professional approach.
Tools
The On-Campus&Live methodology allows you to follow the program in person and also remotely.
In this modality, two stable subgroups are opened that will coexist throughout the course: one face-to-face and the other with 100% remote students. The remote students (a maximum of 15 places per course) will follow the program in a synchronous way with the face-to-face students. That is, they will share the same school calendar and schedule as the face-to-face students.
Project-oriented learning and the combination of lectures and active methodologies such as case studies, flipped learning, solving real problems, and professional simulations allow the student to connect theory and practice, acquire advanced skills, and achieve learning which is transferable to the job. The face-to-face modality is enriched with elements of online programs (virtual learning environment, multimedia resources, among others) so that the learning experience of the two subgroups is equally satisfactory.
You will have:
- Master's or postgraduate work to learn by doing
- A personal mentor to monitor your Master's Final Project (TFM) or Postgraduate Final Project (TFP)
- Digital resources to achieve transversal skills
- Interdisciplinary activities and workshops
- Digital resources and audiovisual blocks for online learning
- Active methodologies for transferable learning
Professional Future
Turn your passion into an in demand profession and become part of an industry growing by more than 10% annually in Spain in the last decade, and which already has a turnover greater than music and cinema.
In the master you will create a video game working with Unreal and developing your own engine, based on the two itineraries, according to your profile: artistic directors (creative aspects, plot conceptualization, visual design, modelling of characters, settings, objects, sound, etc.) and expert video game programmers (technical aspects, production, graphic programming, artificial intelligence, logic, etc.).
You will leave with different individual and group projects with which you can get work in studios and publishers. Students from previous courses now work as professionals at Sony Pictures Canada, and both programmers and animators develop video games at Rockstar (Red Dead Redemption II), Nomada Studio (Gris), Digital Legends, EA, Mercury Steam, or Ubisoft, among others. Some students have won national and international awards or have created studies with videogames developed in the master (Lince Works).
Student profile
The master is an experience that will change your life in many ways:
- Professionally, you will enter the video game industry, something that you are passionate about and where you have always wanted to develop your professional career.
- Personally and culturally, you will grow thanks to the diversity of nationalities that you will find in the classroom, since we have international students from different countries.
- You will learn from students with different profiles thanks to the double itinerary: you will share classroom and experiences with artistic profiles (Audiovisual Communication, Fine Arts, Architecture, Graphic Design, etc.) and programming (engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, telcos, etc.).
Career opportunities
In order to get a job in the video game industry you will be able to present the individual and group projects that you will have undertaken during the master's degree.
The course's teaching staff is made up of artists and professionals from leading companies in the video game industry, who can help you find the professional project you are pursuing.
Students from other courses work at Sony Pictures Canada and both programmers and animators develop video games or mobile games at Rockstar (Red Dead Redemption II), Nomada Studio (Gris), Digital Legends, EA, Mercury Steam, or Ubisoft, among others. Other students have won national and international awards or have created studies with video games developed in the master's degree (Lince Works).
- Creatives
- Screenwriters
- Art Directors
- Visual designers
- Character and object modellers
- Scenario creators
- Sound and FX
- Video game programmers
- Graphic programmers
- Production
- Artificial intelligence
- Logic
- Gameplay
- Entrepreneurship, and more.
Admission and enrolment
Our admission process consists of a rigorous evaluation of each application to preserve the quality of the group as well as the training, experience, and work capacity of all students.
Who can apply?
Higher university graduates.
Those participants who do not have Spanish as one of their mother tongues or who did not have it as a teaching language in their training studies must prove that they have at least a B2 level of Spanish (Common European Framework of Reference), as well as fluently take part in a personal interview with the academic director, if necessary.
Registration for this master's degree will remain open until all available places have been filled.
Important: your resume must include the following information:
- In the case of programmers: detail your knowledge of C ++ and object-oriented programming: years, packages with which you have experience, completed projects. Ditto about libraries like OpenGL or DirectX.
- In the case of artists, it is necessary that you present work samples (drawings and/or 2D and 3D projects).
Check all the details necessary for the admission process of this Master.
How to apply?
To apply for admission to this program, students must read and accept the Terms and Conditions of Contract once they start the application for admission through the following form.
Application for admission
Complete your application within the next admission rounds:
| Round | Application deadline | Admission resolution |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11/11/2020 | 26/11/2020 |
| 2 | 03/12/2020 | 18/12/2020 |
| 3 | 17/12/2020 | 31/12/2020 |
| 4 | 12/01/2021 | 28/01/2021 |
| 5 | 02/02/2021 | 17/02/2021 |
| 6 | 23/02/2021 | 10/03/2021 |
| 7 | 16/03/2021 | 31/03/2021 |
| 8 | 08/04/2021 | 23/04/2021 |
| 9 | 27/04/2021 | 12/05/2021 |
| 10 | 13/05/2021 | 28/05/2021 |
| 11 | 27/05/2021 | 11/06/2021 |
| 12 | 08/06/2021 | 23/06/2021 |
| 13 | 22/06/2021 | 07/07/2021 |
| 14 | 06/07/2021 | 21/07/2021 |
| 15 | 20/07/2021 | 30/07/2021 |
| 16 | 02/09/2021 | 17/09/2021 |
| 17 | 16/09/2021 | 01/10/2021 |
| 18 | 05/10/2021 | 20/10/2021 |
| 19 | 21/10/2021 | 05/11/2021 |
Applications for admission will be evaluated when you complete the following steps:
- Complete the online admission form.
- Pay the €120 admission fee. This amount will be returned if you are not admitted.
- Send the following documents through the online platform e-registrar:
- Presentation letter or video
- CV
- Scanned copy of university degree (if you are in the last year of your degree, you can provide your academic records)
- Scanned copy of Transcript of Records. Make sure that it includes your GPA (Grade Point Average)
- Scanned copy of ID Card or Passport
- Passport-size photo (jpg format)
Additional documents may be requested in certain cases.
Application rounds are subject to the number of places available on the program.
Admission
- The Admissions Committee will select the candidates on the basis of a personal or CV-based interview.
- You will be notified of the admission decision in writing.
Enrolment
- Registration must be paid within a 15 days after the admission.
- Once the letter of acceptance to the program has been received, you will need to submit the following original documents before the course begins:
- Stamped and/or authenticated photocopy of your university degree.
- If you have a foreign degree you may need to submit additional documents.
- Paying the reservation fee (25% of the program's tuition fees) is essential in order to reserve your place
- If you pay the tuition fees by bank transfer you will be required to introduce the program code. The program code for this course is 1048.
- The remaining tuition fees must be paid 2 weeks before the start of the course.
Grants, scholarships and financing
Scholarships
The UPF Barcelona School of Management offers you different means of financing so that you can take any of our programs without worry. We offer you the opportunity to finance part of your program, either by rewarding your talent through scholarships, through grants from entities dedicated to promoting education or through collaboration agreements with financial entities.
Grants and discounts
Funding
Financing simulator
You can choose how to finance your studies by consulting our simulator and receive an answer in less than 24 hours.
Collaborating entities
In addition, UPF Barcelona School of Management collaborates with various banks and financial entities which provide study loans on favorable terms. For more information you can contact any of the following links (in Spanish).
Note, however, that in order to benefit from these special conditions you must have a NIE if you are not a European Citizen. Therefore, UPF Barcelona School of Management strongly recommends international students to seek first for students loans at bank entities of their country of origin, or to search for funding opportunities through international entities.
The Agency for Management of University and Research Grants of Catalonia (AGAUR, in Spanish) also offers loans to university students with legal residence in Catalonia through the PREPOST program.
Language: Spanish
Price: 9200€