UniSA offers video gamers a chance to realise their dream jobs

By Candy Gibson

CREATIVE INDUSTRIES Incoming 2020 students Teagan O'Brien and James O'Connell have elected to take a new major in Games Design and Production as part of a Bachelor of Creative Industries at UniSA. They’re among more than 9000 new students will begin university at UniSA in the coming months. Photo courtesy The Advertiser.

UniSA is collaborating with Adelaide company Mighty Kingdom to offer South Australia’s first course in front-end games design and development.

It's among a number of new programs being offered for the first time in 2020.

The course is offered as a major in UniSA’s Bachelor of Creative Industries (BCI) degree, focusing on the design and art aspects of gaming, including developing computer-generated imagery, writing narratives, developing characters and producing and managing games production.

Mighty Kingdom founder and CEO Philip Mayes says the course will give South Australians a huge head start in an industry which has grown more than 300 per cent in the past five years at the local level.

“For Australian game developers to remain globally relevant, we need more courses like this,” he says.

“This is an opportunity for South Australia to take a leadership position in the industry, increasing its 9 per cent share nationally by preparing students to hit the ground running from day one.

“Game design draws from a vast array of human experience so it’s not just for school leavers,” Mayes says. “It appeals to people from a diverse range of backgrounds and ages. One of our designers was a chef before we hired him.”

Mayes says the course will prepare graduates for a range of opportunities, given that video gaming is an intersection of technology and art.

“We use cutting-edge technology to deliver entertainment to a diverse, global audience. The skills you develop in this industry overlap with many others, including visual effects, defence and virtual reality.

“This course is for people who have a strong creative bent, understand data, enjoy collaborating with others and want to take the step from being a consumer to a creator. It will open doors to an incredibly dynamic career built on the fundamentals of design, creativity, collaboration and, of course, fun.”

UniSA Program Director for the Bachelor of Creative Industries, Dr Carolyn Bilsborow, says students can choose options that will give them both front-end and back-end skills in games design and development.

“If students want the full gaming experience, they can pair this course with a Games major offered within UniSA’s Bachelor of Information Technology focused on the programming and software development side,” she says.

Prospective students have until 28 February to apply for the BCI to commence in early March 2020, which has already attracted 125 first preferences and 305 overall preferences, exceeding all expectations.

For more information about the course, visit UniSA’s Bachelor of Creative Industries page.

Other Stories

• The exercise that will maximise your heart and brain health
• What is the language of love in the 21st century?
• How to take a tiger’s pulse with a digital camera
• Graduates’ visual handiwork on show for the Oscars
• From the Vice Chancellor
• Achievements and Announcements
• Video: Helping nature recover after Cudlee Creek bushfire
• UniSA offers video gamers a chance to realise their dream jobs
• Students tackle some of life’s big questions in new MOD. podcast
• College graduate returns behind teacher’s desk
• Honouring the ‘voice of cycling’
• Swedish internship gives UniSA students a headstart in defence careers
• Project unearths silent witnesses to history
• Bushfire fundraiser, TDU and more