Master in Video Game Development

Video Game Development

ESNE is a pioneer institution in Spain in the training of video games professionals. Currently it is the only institution offering an ANECA-Accredited University Degree, which makes us a role-model centre for training Video Games industry professionals.

ESNE’s experience and history is endorsed by the video games industry through the industry partners we design our Master programmes with: LENOVO, Smile & Learn, Mobile Dreams or Demium Games; we also have the explicit recognition provided by the awarding of prestigious prizes such as Sony PlayStation Awards.

This Master is created to respond to the new momentum experienced by the video games industry as a direct consequence of three major phenomena, explored in-depth by the unique specialisations of this master:

 

— Video games for mobile devices

— e-Sports

— Video games for Education

 

Our school also has broad experience in the integration of libraries and plugins in the Unity and Unreal video games engines, as well as expertise in creating assets with own libraries developed with multiple 3D resources which can be immediately inserted in Virtual Reality 3D Worlds designs.

Participants in this programme will be trained in Video Games Design and Development, working on the conception of the game idea, design, scheduling, production, development and testing. It is an exciting Master due to the diversity and depth of the curriculum, with three enormously innovative specialisations with a very high growth potential in our country.

ESNE has many collaboration agreements with leading companies in this field, such as:

Language: Spanish

Curriculum

60 ECTS · Year 2018/19

 

This programme has a shared core and three specialty areas in Video Games Development for Education, Mobile devices and e-sports.

It means a total of: 30 ECTS credits of compulsory subjects, 24 ECTS credits of elective subjects, from which the student must choose between: 18 ECTS from one of the three paths, along with... 6 ECTS to choose between either In-house Internships or the subject Video Games Production.

Students must submit a Master Thesis and defend it in front of a board.

 

Core Subjects / 30 ECTS credits

Designing Video Games and Levels 6 ECTS credits

Video Games Development Tools 9 ECTS credits

Art in Video Games 12 ECTS credits

Entrepreneurship and Applied Legislation 3 ECTS credits

 

Elective Subjects / 6 ECTS credits

Video Games Production 6 ECTS

 

Specialty Elective Subjects / 18 ECTS credits

 

Specialty in Video Games for Education

Video Games and Education in the Teaching of Sciences 6 ECTS credits

Video Games and Education in the Teaching of Arts and Humanities 6 ECTS credits

Design and Development of Educational Video Games 6 ECTS credits

 

Specialty in e-sports

e-sports Development Technologies 6 ECTS credits

e-sports Management and Communication 6 ECTS credits

e-sports Design and Conceptualization 6 ECTS credits

 

Specialty in Video Games for Mobile Devices

Designing Interface and Interaction 6 ECTS credits

Business Models 6 ECTS credits

Mobile Games Development Technologies 6 ECTS credits

Internships 6 ECTS credits

 

Master’s Thesis | 6 ECTS

Conception and development of a cutting-edge design project in an area of interest, applying all the acquired intellectual, technical and professional skills and knowledge.

 

 

Modality of Instruction: On campus

Duration: 10 months / October – July

Schedule: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from

6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

 

Internships and Career Opportunities

As in so many other Design fields, the designer is an integrator, so the coherent profile of this Master is an "Integral manager of a video game development project". The designer must know the society in which they live, its messages and keys, as well as the requests of customers —in this case, gamers of the three different strands— and, with this comprehensive knowledge in hand, they must be able to integrate game concept, art and creation, gamers’ behaviour and related technologies. While not being in-depth experts in each of these fields, they must know them and how to integrate them, providing the all-important added value of creativity.

 

Career opportunities for graduates in this Master could be:

 

— Video Games Creative Director in each of the fields.

 

— Depending on their previous training, they could be Games Development Specialists in the different specialities (e-sports, education, mobile devices) and work fields (art, design or programmer).

 

— Advanced User. Educators of all levels and disciplines. ICT coordinators, as leaders of educational innovation in schools.

 

— In the case of e-sports, in addition to direction of development of new games, also the management of communications and electronic sport events.

 

The overall orientation of the programme is professional, with two elective subjects —to choose between— reinforcing this professional approach:

 

— The Games Production subject is very oriented to the final stage of a real game and comprises the most important business —and even financial— aspects in the development and launch of games.

 

— ESNE has internship agreements with many companies in the video game industry because it has offered the Degree in Design and Development of Video Games for years now, including:

 

SONY / MICROSOFT / TOUCHVIEW / GLOBAL INFOMEDIA / WILDBIT STUDIOS / ZINKIA / BRB INTERNACIONAL / ELECTRONIC ARTS / BADLAND GAMES / BITOON GAMES / EVIL MIND ENTERTAINMENT / FX INTERACTIVE / [...]

 

 

Student Profile

This Master is oriented to graduates, with or without professional experience, interested in specialising in the video games industry or in the potential they represent in any of the specialities of the master: Video games for Mobile Devices, for e-sport and for Education.

Those students who fail to accredit official training in programming will be required to take the supplementary subject Fundamentals of Programming (6 ECTS credits), which will be taught alongside the Master programme.

Video game development follows a similar process as software development in general, although a great amount of indispensable creative input (music, story, characters design, levels, etc.) is needed. This is why it cannot be done by professionals who lack these abilities and justifies this creative component carrying the main weight of this University Master programme. This process includes the following stages:

— Conception of the game idea

— Design

— Scheduling

— Production

— Development

— Testing

 

Skills

The contents of this Master have been designed to develop the skills required in this new professional environment. Among others, the participants will acquire the skills of:

Deducing and classifying the functionality, uses and possibilities of the development tools specific to video games.

Determining the process (pipeline) of visual development of a video game project.

Determining and managing the different development techniques and methodologies for the planning and production of a project.

Analysing the development process of a video game software project, and knowing how to distinguish the most appropriate instruments and methodologies.

Arguing the value of proposals and projects in a professional way.

Estimating appropriate and viable business models for the created proposals.

Determining and developing an educational video game project that meets the defined requirements.

Determining and developing a prototype video game specifically for so-called electronic sports (e-sports), which meets the defined requirements or for mobile devices.

Examining the surrounding elements that characterise and give value to eSports (user community, social networks, etc.).

 

Cycle of Conferences and Workshops

The Master programme will have a broad-ranging cycle of lectures given by prestigious professionals who work for leading companies in the industry. Their professional view and experience, imbued with the latest trends and technologies, will complement the training.

 

Admission Process

University Information and Orientation Department:

Phone: +34 915 522 528

postgrado@esne.es

 

Beginning your admission process:

——Delivery of documentation: A copy of your Degree certificate or academic transcript stating the completion of the university programme/ A photocopy of the DNI or passport / Updated CV

—— Interview with the Master's Academic Director.

—— Enrolling: Once notified, the candidate can formalise the enrolment by paying the registration fee.

 

Technological Revolution

Virtual Reality

“A new future for video games”

 

VR is revolutionising the way we play video games. Devices such as PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Live or Samsung Gear VR allow the player to experience a sense of total immersion in the game. Likewise, VR is being applied to other areas such as education, simulators, health or cinema. Video games creation is constantly being renewed and our programmes are adapted to the reality of the business world, incorporating teaching the use of this avant-garde technology into its curriculum.

 

High Tech

“Digital University Centre”

 

ESNE has 7 high performance computer laboratories, adapted and updated according to the rhythms of technological evolution. The classrooms are equipped with 22-inch Wacom Cintiq graphics tablets, Workstations with expanded hardware for optimal performance in digital graphics and Mac OSX computers equipped with a virtual machine to work with programming-oriented Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server.

 

MediaLab

“The multimedia laboratory that brings projects to life.”

 

Canon, Nikon and JVC digital video and photo cameras; spotlights and flashes, microphones and sound recorders, poles, chroma screens, tripods, Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses, video mapping software, 3D motion capture equipment, photometry equipment and software, etc. which allows the ideas and projects born from the creativity of our students to be transformed into audio visual reality.

 

Academic Staff

Among others, this Master’s academic staff includes:

 

Fernando de Rada, Master's Co-Director

CEO of Wildbit Studios (video games for mobile devices and consoles). More than 25 years of experience as entrepreneur and Senior Executive in mobile devices, games and digital media.

 

Sergio Urbano, Master's Co-Director

PhD in Education from the UCJC, Graduate in

Mathematics from the UCM.

 

Jaime Álvarez

General Director of the consulting firm Brand Finance Spain.

PhD in Financial Economics from the UCM.

 

Alejandro Miralles

UX Designer & Co-Founder Demium Games. Founder of Tentáculo Studio, where he launched Takos Japanese; founder of the publisher Giant Soul Interactive.

 

Fernando Conde

Business Manager in the Department of Product Innovation & Development, at the company Sngular.

 

Juan Pablo Ordóñez

Creative Director and Producer at Game and Symphonies, CEO of BigMonster group (video games and music).

Graduate in Creative Media Production from the University of Essex.

 

Beatriz Alonso Carvajales

Games graphic artist, Demium Games. Graduate in Fine Arts, MA in Art & Visual Design for

Video Games.

 

Carlos García González

Co-founder of Demium Games. Telecommunications Engineer and MA in Biomedical Engineering from the UPM.

 

Diego del Castillo Torguet

Gameplay Programmer at Demium Games. Graduate in Video Game Design and Development.

 

Aleix Risco Mas

CEO & Co-Founder of Demium Games. Degree in Business Administration and Management, Market Research and Techniques and graduate in Advertising and Public Relations.

 

Alejandro Suárez López

General Manager and Performance Manager at MAD Lions E.C. Awarded two second places (CSGO and LoL) and an ESL (LoL). Graduate at Sport Sciences and MA in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences.

 

Justo Hidalgo

Co-founder of the start-up 24symbols. PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of A Coruña.

 

Luis Rubio

Honour Award at "Hackathon 100 Apps, Desafío ESNE Microsoft" in 2013. Graduate in Creative Media Production from the University of Essex.

 

Ángel Rodríguez Ballesteros

Expert in multiplatform video games development for mobile devices and 2D and 3D graphic programming. Graduate in Creative Media Production from the University of Essex.

 

Rafael Conde

PhD in Sociology from the University of Seville. Awarded many prizes, such as DISCAPNET 2015 de Fundación ONCE a las Tecnologías Accesibles, V Premio Vodafone a la Innovación, Premio IMSERSO 2010 Infanta Cristina a la Investigación.

 

David Alonso

Director of the Degree in Video Game Design and Development. PhD in Education. Computer Engineer and MA in Corporate Image, Publicity and Identity. Director of the First International Conference of Video Game Art, Design and Development (I Congreso Internacional de Arte Diseño y Desarrollo de videojuegos).

 

Javier González Patiño

PhD in Psychology from the universities UAM and UNED. Teacher in the Faculty of Education at the UAM. Expert in Digital Media and Learning knowledge.

 

David Camacho

PhD in Computer Engineering UC3M. Tenured Lecturer at the UAM. Responsible for national and international projects related to video games research.

 

Raquel Menéndez Ferreira

Graduate in Education from the University of Oviedo, MA in eLearning and Networks from the UNIR. Expert in serious games and gamification techniques for education in values.

 

Raúl Lara Cabrera

Expert in automatic generation of content for real-time strategy games.

PhD of the University of Malaga and MA in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (2013).

 

Alejandro Martín García

Expert in Machine Learning and its application to Android platform. MA in Computer Science and Technology from the UC3M.

 

Antonio González Pardo

Expert in serious games development and new technologies for E-learning tools development.

PhD in Computer Engineering from UAM.

 

Elena Flores

Department of Business Innovation & Development of Sngular. Graduate in Video Game Design and Development.

 

Almudena González Petronila

Educational coordinator of Smile and Learn.

Specialist in new learning methodology, design of educational material and ICT applied to education. Graduate in Psychology and MA in Educational Psychology from the UAM.

 

Alberto Hernández Gómez,

Coordinator and senior programmer of the Smile and Learn's intelligent platform. Specialised in multi-platform apps development. Computer Engineer and MA in Graphic Computer Science, Games and Virtual Reality from the URJC.

 

María Tamarit

Art Director of Smile and Learn. Expert in design and illustration applied to education in digital environments. Double degree in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising from the Jaume I University and MA in Integral Art and Creative Direction.

 

Almudena Montero

Graduate in Design from the Complutense University of Madrid and currently undertaking the MA in Art for Video Games at Voxel School. She is a university professor at ESNE.

 

Carolina Vázquez

PhD in Systems and Services Engineering for the Information Society from the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid).

 

Cristina Paredes

Graduate in Law and PhD in Commercial Law from the UCM. She has been a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School.