Master in Game Development and Research

Speaking of teaching games, I forgot to make a quite important announcement. As I already mentioned in my profile blub at the end of each post, I have been working for some time for the Cologne Game Lab. The CGL is a new institute of Cologne University of Applied Sciences. I have been helping out getting a Master in Game Development and Research program started with two very ambitious professors. After two years, we are finally accepting applications RIGHT NOW.

One of the reasons I find this quite exciting is that we are really trying to do a very different kind of games education. We did a little bit of research and so far many of the programs focus very much on preparing students to be among the low-level workforces in big studios. Seeing how the games industry is slowly maneuvering itself into a creative dead-end, we believe it is time to develop alternatives. So out program has a unique artistic / scientific approach. We want to reasearch and teach strategies and skills on how to develop new ideas and concepts for games. But this isn’t a big pie in the sky. The curriculum consist almost entirely of Experimental Gameplay-style practical projects. After spending two years at CGL, the students will have produced A TON of innovative experiments and prototypes and developed a solid understanding of an iterative design process.

This is not an education to be the next UV-unwrapper for Square Enix. This is not an education to be the programmer of the pause-screen for the next Gears of War. It’s the education for the creative lead of the next innovative indie studio. It’s the education for game developers who will develop games in a time where there are no doubts on games being art – possibly even thanks to them. I – an indie myself – was personally responsible for developing large parts of the curriculum. Being able to define the shape of things to come this way was quite amazing to say the least.

So now with everything in place, all we need are students. We accept applications from all over the world. The course will be held in English and takes two years. The requirement is at least bachelor-level education in any major and a total of one year of experience in a games-related profession (this specifically includes working on your own indie game experiments). More details here. You can also get in touch with us on Twitter and on Facebook if you have any questions. Please do so. We have been working a lot to get this one chance. We can’t pull this off without ambitious students, who want to change the face of gaming as much as we do.