Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: £10,620 for the course
International/EU: £17,725 for the course -
How long will I study?
1 Year
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Where will I study?
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When do I start?
September 2025
Course summary
- Study on a course that is designed and focused on gaining employment within the creative industries.
- Work in a professional studio-based environment with access to the latest industry standard software and hardware.
- Specialise in your preferred discipline to create original and engaging game content.
- Produce a calling card professional portfolio to showcase your skills to potential employers.
- Contribute effectively to teams that blend diverse expertise to enable effective problem-solving.
You will explore advanced game development methods, inspired by emerging new research and current industry practice. Applying this knowledge to develop your own innovative and distinctive game-based portfolio, you’ll be well-equipped for a constantly evolving creative industry landscape and its exciting job opportunities
Come to an open day
Find out more at our postgraduate open days. Book now for your place.
How you learn
The entire course is geared towards producing employable professionals able to work in the games industry. The curriculum has been designed to enable you to acquire and improve your knowledge and understanding of the subject and develop skills and attributes that will enhance your academic achievement, improve your success in the world of work and underpin your future career.
We promote a learning environment that is both supportive and inclusive, whilst also actively embracing diversity.
During the course, you will produce a portfolio of work to a high professional standard culminating in the production of a showreel that can be used to showcase your specific skillset and expertise to future employers upon graduating.
Tutors will encourage a range of approaches to learning and provide academic support to enable you to actively engage with, develop and demonstrate the necessary skills, qualities, and subject expertise required.
You will learn learn through:
- Workshops
- Technical demonstrations
- Crit sessions
- One-to-one supervision with animation-discipline-specific members of staff
- Guest lectures
- The chance to work on commercial opportunities with real-world clients
- External visits and field trips
Key themes
Core modules cover Game creation techniques and associated skills in your chosen discipline. These modules will introduce you to key skills such as creative ideation, 2D concepting, 3D design, game prototyping, lighting and post-production providing you with a solid foundation to fulfil your potential.
Course support
You will be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate level employment through a number of key areas. These include:
- access to specialist support services to help with your personal, academic and career development.
- access to our Skills Centre with one-to-ones, webinars, and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments.
- industry-specific employability activities such as live projects, learning in simulated environments and networking opportunities.
Continuing Professional Development is encouraged both through assessment and via an academic advising system that supports you in your ongoing development.
Applied learning
Work placements
By participating in work experience opportunities, you will not only expand your skill set but also enhance your confidence, resilience, and ability to navigate professional interactions.
Live projects
You will have the chance to work on Live Projects, collaborating with external partners to tackle real-world challenges, which will provide you with insights into the complexities of professional work. These experiences are carefully integrated into your coursework to facilitate the development of crucial knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours.
Your course has been designed to embrace real-world challenges and provide you with practical skills and knowledge. We do this by developing your expertise in collaboration with industry, commercial and creative practitioners, clients, and organisations. We aim to provide a diverse range of work experience interactions embedded throughout your time studying with us.
Field trips
You will have the opportunity to embark on field trips to professional settings, cultural institutions, and organisations that expose you to different working environments and expand your cultural understanding. You will have opportunities to hear from a diverse range of professional guest speakers who will share their experiences, insights, and knowledge, offering you unique perspectives on industries and career paths.
Networking opportunities
The course embeds opportunities for students to submit their work to internationally recognised awards events, including the TIGA Games Education Awards. Our membership to Game Republic also presents a range of networking, guest speakers, and industry exposure opportunities for our students.
Competitions
We actively encourage engagement in national and international ‘Game Jams’ that have the potential to make a significant impact on your career advancement and exposure. Participating in such competitions allows you to showcase your skills, gain recognition, and create valuable opportunities for yourself.
Future careers
This course prepares you for a career in:
- Games Designer
- Games Programmer
- Concept Artist
- 3D/Character/Environmental/Prop Artist
- Creative/Games Producer
- Art Director
- Storyboard artist
- Visual effects (VFX) artist
Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEquipment and facilities
On the MA Games course, you will have access to a wide variety of facilities across the university campuses – including a 24-hour learning centre, Students’ Union, cafes and eateries, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces and more. You will work in a professional studio-based environment with access to the latest industry standard software and hardware including:
- 2D life drawing studios
- Motion capture and green screen studios
- Wacom tablets
- Free access to professional grade image capture solutions
- Access to rapid prototyping 3D printers (full colour filament and resin)
- 4K 360 cameras with physical HDRI calibration tools
- VR workspaces with inside-out tracking
- The Autodesk Media and Entertainment Collection
- The Adobe Creative Cloud Suite (Including the Substance 3D collection)
- Unreal Engine
- Zbrush
Entry requirements
All students
Typically you need a second class honours degree or above in a • traditional art or design • digital art • digital media • games design • multimedia or a related subject.
We expect you to be artistic and motivated to produce high quality game art. You must also demonstrate that you have an appropriate level of skill in art or design by presenting previous work, show-reels or portfolios.
Overseas applicants from countries whose first language is not English must normally produce evidence of competence in English. An IELTS score of 6.0 with 5.5 in all skills (or equivalent) is the standard for non-native speakers of English. If your English language skill is currently below an IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills we recommend you consider a Sheffield Hallam University Pre-sessional English course which will enable you to achieve an equivalent English level.
If you do not have such academic qualifications we may consider your application individually, based on your personal, professional and work experience, and other formal qualifications. You may also be able to claim credit points which can reduce the amount of time it takes to complete your qualification at Sheffield Hallam. Find out more
Additional information for EU/International students
If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.
For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.
Modules
Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change. When selecting electives, your choices will be subject to the core requirements of the course. As a result, selections may be limited to a choice between one of two or more specified electives in some instances.
Final year
Compulsory modules
Creative Media Masters Project
Games Industry Project
Individual Portfolio Project
Principles Of Game Design And Development
Research And Development Proposal
Fees and funding
Home students
Our tuition fee for UK students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £10,620 for the course.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
International students
Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2025/26 is £17,725 for the course.
Postgraduate student loans
Up to £12,471 is available in 2024/25 for home students on most masters courses.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for Sheffield Creative Industries Institute (PDF, 153.7KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
