Qualifications
Overview
Applied Immersive Game Design is one of three majors of the Bachelor of Product Design degree combining creative innovation with technical and business skills.
You will acquire knowledge and skills in creative and technical design, as well as business expertise within the gaming industry. Throughout the major there are opportunities to design and develop games that meet end-user needs for entertainment, education, rehabilitation, and industrial applications.
Not only will you learn the theory of idea generation, game structure, and interface design, you will also gain practical experience in prototyping for a range of game engines and platforms with an emphasis on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality.
Why study Applied Immersive Game Design at UC?
- UC’s Te Kura Hanga Otinga | School of Product Design brings together creative design, science, engineering, and business studies, and there are opportunities to apply your learning through team-based projects, entrepreneurship courses, and the use of dedicated, hands-on product innovation spaces.
- Developing your skills throughout the degree, you’ll be building your first games, right from the first semester of year one.
- You will have extensive use of the School’s gaming lounge which houses consoles, PCs, and AR/VR spaces and equipment.
- Based at UC, Hangarau Tangata, Tangata Hangarau | HIT Lab NZ specialises in the rapidly growing areas of augmented reality and immersive game design, with expert lecturers and facilities.
- UC is ranked 240th in the world for Engineering and Technology, and in the top 250 universities in the world for Business and Management Studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2020).
Recommended preparation
Students should ideally have at least 14 credits in Level 2 NCEA science and mathematics (or the IB/CIE equivalent of these).
Courses
UC offers a major in Applied Immersive Game Design as part of the Bachelor of Product Design.
At all levels, students will undertake significant hands-on projects, working in teams and individually to design and test game prototypes to the level needed to launch a new game app, or pitch a new product concept to a client or investor.
Applied Immersive Game Design major
To complete a major in Applied Immersive Game Design within the Bachelor of Product Design, you will need to take the following courses throughout the degree:
100-level
- COSC 121 Introduction to Computer Programming or COSC 131 Introduction to Programming for Engineers
- COSC 122 Introduction to Computer Science
- PROD 121 The Game Development Process
200-level
- PROD 221 Game Design in Context
- PROD 222 Gaming Project Studio 1
- PROD 223 Immersive Interface Design
- PROD 224 Computation for Games
- SENG 201 Software Engineering I
- One 15-point course above 100-level from Engineering, Science, or Product Design degrees
300-level
- PROD 321 Interactive Computer Graphics and Animation
- PROD 322 Gaming Project Studio 2
- PROD 323 Game Engines and Artificial Intelligence
- SENG 301 Software Engineering II
- One 200-level or 300-level course from any degree at UC
Career opportunities
The electronic entertainment and technology sector is one of the biggest earners worldwide, with the gaming industry in particular growing at an exponential rate.
Aotearoa New Zealand houses more start-up developers per capita than any other country in the world. Companies benefit from graduates with ‘all-round’ skills — from technical aspects through to marketing and customer support — and a user-centred approach to game and software design, for example in the areas of entertainment, industrial, retail, tourism, education, behavioural intervention, robotics, and medical and rehabilitation.
Find out more about what you can do with a degree in Applied Immersive Game Design.
Contact us
School of Product Design | Te Kura Hanga Otinga
Phone +64 3 369 4271 or +64 3 369 4272
Email [email protected]
Location
Len Lye Building – see the School’s website for up-to-date location details.
Postal address
College of Engineering | Te Rāngai Pūkaha
University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand