Best Australian Games Development Degree only at SAE Dubai
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Bachelor of Games Development

START YOUR CAREER AHEAD OF THE GAME
Games Students on Computer
Available at
Dubai
Fees
Bachelor of Games Development
Domestic Fees
  • Plan A – Yearly Payment – AED 56,790
  • Plan B – Trimester Payment – AED 20,670
  • Plan C – Monthly Payment – AED 7,340 (9 Payments per Year)

Click here to view more about Fees and Payments

Bachelor of Games Development
International Fees
  • Plan A – Yearly Payment – AED 56,790
  • Plan B – Trimester Payment – AED 20,670
  • Plan C – Monthly Payment – AED 7,340 (9 Payments per Year)

Click here to view more about Fees and Payments

Duration(s)
8 Trimesters Full Time

Complete the program across 3 years (8 trimesters)

Bachelor of Games Development
Course Durations
8 Trimesters Full Time

Complete the program across 3 years (8 trimesters)

We understand that things can change, so you'll have the flexibility to change your study load throughout your course if you need to.
Start Date(s)
Dubai
  • 2024 – May, Dubai

  • 2024 – September, Dubai

Bachelor of Games Development
Start Dates
Dubai
  • 2024 – May, Dubai

  • 2024 – September, Dubai

Entry Requirements
Bachelor of Games Development
Domestic Entry Requirements
Domestic Entry Requirements
Minimum age requirements
Be at least 18 years of age (or turning 18 during your first year of studies) or 17y before the commencement of the first term
More info
Academic requirements
Completion of an Australian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) or equivalent; which is Grade/Year 12 according to the Australian curriculum. Minimum overall pass is required.
More info
English language requirements
International English Language Testing System (IELTS): A band score of 6 or higher for a Higher Education (HE) course and 5.5 or higher for a VET course (only the Academic Test is accepted), OR
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A score of 550 or higher (paper based test), 60 or higher (internet based test) for a Higher Education (HE) course and a minimum score of 527 (paper based test) or 46 (internet based test) for a VET course, OR
An equivalent level from other approved secondary schooling English studies by providing a signed and stamped letter of confirmation from the High school stating that English was the language of instruction.
More info
Bachelor of Games Development
International Entry Requirements
International Entry Requirements
Minimum age requirements
Be at least 18 years of age (or turning 18 during your first year of studies) or 17y before the commencement of the first term
More info
Academic requirements
Completion of an Australian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE) or equivalent; which is Grade/Year 12 according to the Australian curriculum. Minimum overall pass is required.
More info
English language requirements
International English Language Testing System (IELTS): A band score of 6 or higher for a Higher Education (HE) course and 5.5 or higher for a VET course (only the Academic Test is accepted), OR
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): A score of 550 or higher (paper based test), 60 or higher (internet based test) for a Higher Education (HE) course and a minimum score of 527 (paper based test) or 46 (internet based test) for a VET course, OR
An equivalent level from other approved secondary schooling English studies by providing a signed and stamped letter of confirmation from the High school stating that English was the language of instruction.
More info

YOUR CAREER IN GAMES BEGINS NOW

Games student using computers
Develop advanced skills in industry-standard software packages Unity3D, Autodesk 3D Studio Max
Practical, immersive training All work is project-based, with no exams. Graduate with a portfolio to share with an employer or first client.
Cross discipline collaboration Work across film, audio, and animation projects at SAE.
Expand your career Graduate with a portfolio, work experience, employability and entrepreneurial skills and a network of fellow creatives.

Tools & Software

Games Development Skills

Gameplay programming Game engine programming Game design C++ and C# programming language Game engine programming Tools development

Course Structure

The Bachelor of Games Development is broken up into three distinct stages, each designed to develop different skills.
Stage 1: Foundations
Develop the essential technical animation skills and the knowledge required to collaborate with other creative media students and professionals.
Credit Points: 10

Beyond technical and craft skills, expert practitioners also have an understanding of the historical and cultural context of games. Through developing your ability to research, analyse, argue, present, write, and cite games theory, you will become a more literate creative. You'll be able to apply this knowledge and these skills in industry and research settings to benefit your projects and company.

Potential projects:

Working in a team, You'll pitch an original game concept and the determination of the concept’s core design.
Credit Points: 10

Game scripting is a common method of controlling the behaviour and sequencing of events and interactions within a game or scenario. Scripting can be thought of as a discrete language that uses principles of mathematics, combined with rules of syntax and patterns, to provide instructions for a computer to follow.
In this unit, you will implement a range of basic game functionality by utilising data manipulation, formulas, object creation, defining of behaviours, and working with event systems. You will also build an awareness of how to use these elements within common game scripting languages and environments.

Potential projects:
Build a simple game from scratch using an existing game engine such as Unity with C#.
Games development uses assets from a range of creative sources including 3D models for environments and objects and 2D assets for menus and backgrounds. In this unit You'll gain an understanding of the production and implementation of these types of assets.

You'll gain practical experience with 3D modelling, lighting, shading, animation and rendering to gain a foundational understanding of a range computer graphics concepts. You will also reflect on the theoretical principles behind the development of computer graphics through critical analysis.
Credit points: 10

In order to design and create games we need to be able to understand game systems and how they generate player experience. Games are complex, sitting at the intersection of art, technology, and psychology. To be able to become an effective game developer, it's important to start at a point where you can experiment and see the immediate outcomes of your decisions upon a product. It's for this reason that most game developers start off with small, rapidly developed games or modifications to check their thinking. In this module you will learn how to analyse existing games to identify and describe their core elements and interactions. You will apply this understanding to manipulate existing games in addition to designing new ones, and then check the effectiveness of your work through playtesting and player feedback.
Credit points: 10
This unit will introduce you to the mindset and skillset of the creative entrepreneur, and transform your approach to problem-solving. You will analyse historical and contemporary models of leadership and best practice in entrepreneurship, and use tools for project design that include ideation, problem framing, and pitching. The skills in this unit will assist you in developing your creative thinking, exploration, and experimentation methods, allowing you to experiment with project design and content for creative media.
Credit points: 10

Game systems increase in importance and complexity in proportion to the size of a project. This relationship requires modular and reusable systems within game development pipelines, which can be applied to other projects. In this unit, you will extend basic scripting principles by implementing event-systems and applied mathematics in the form of modular game systems. This will involve reviewing good code design by developing or modifying fundamental game systems driven by geometry, vectors, and physics, such as input systems and character controllers, as well as researching, designing, and developing a complex game system, such as a 2D boss battle system, RPG dialogue system, or action-adventure inventory system.
Credit Points: 20

In order to create games, you must be able to manage the complexity of the game development process. In this unit You'll build familiarity with toolsets and existing industry practices to formulate and execute clear plans for delivering games assets and features on time and of a high quality.

Work in a team to pitch, design, plan and deliver a game in response to a brief, where You'll extend your existing skill sets in design and scripting to craft a broader range of gameplay systems and features. This will involve learning and applying teamwork and organisational skills with your your classmates, as well as feedback, testing and iteration processes for the game itself.

Potential projects:
Work as part of a team to pitch, design, plan and deliver a game in response to a brief.
Stage 2: Refine & Expand
Broaden your scope to work on complex multidisciplinary projects in accordance with industry standard practices.
Credit Points: 10

In CIM210 you will be working on interdisciplinary projects that relate to some of the most important concepts in contemporary media production. You will learn practical and analytical skills in order to help you develop your creative powers and meet briefs that take you out of your comfort zone. You will need to bring all of the skills you have learned so far: technical skills, research skills, communication skills and a growth mindset, and be prepared to encounter new concepts and new ways of working.
Credit Points: 30

Game design and development relies as equally on knowledge and skills, as it does on the eureka moment of creative design inspiration.

In this unit, you will ideate and develop one or more game prototypes. You will test these against criteria for success and identify the best prototype.

You will develop this prototype further, exploring more advanced game design techniques and evaluate them with an audience.

Potential projects: In collaboration with Audio and Animation students you will work towards developing a number of projects within a simulated studio environment.
Credit Points: 10

Media and culture are not simply entertainment, but something that affects the “real world”, our everyday lives, and our worldviews. As such, we will not ask whether media accurately reflect the real world but instead ask how media shape, reinforce, and challenge power structures that influence our understanding of the world and ourselves. This unit takes a ‘critical theory’ approach to analyze media and culture. In this unit, you will explore media texts, contexts and meaning, society and subjectivity, pop culture aesthetics, and critical cultural discourses that inform creative media practices.

Drawing on a range of creative content and analytical frameworks, you will be encouraged to develop ways of thinking about media and culture that demonstrate a broad awareness of aesthetic principles and stylistic trends; subjectivity, agency, ethics, and relations of power; contexts, disciplines and discursive formations. In support of this exploration, you will produce a range of media artifacts that explore and contextualize the relationship of media to culture through individual analysis, collaborative and interdisciplinary creative practice, and critical reflection.

Credit Points: 30

In this studio unit, you will focus on developing games with meaning, inquiry, and purpose.

As a game designer, you have an opportunity to tell authentic stories and narratives through gameplay and other mechanics. You will employ techniques to convey a consistent theme and style throughout your project, and influence play in outputs and inputs.
Stage 3: Showcase
Execute a project of your own design which is of a high quality and externally published, with the knowledge to commercialise if you choose. You'll also apply your skills through industry work placement.
Credit Points: 20

This is the first unit in a two-part process of developing a collaborative project, designed to meet professional publication standards. In a group, you'll design and execute a full-scale creative project which will be designed to a specific target audience and market of your team's choosing.

Working closely with SAE Project Supervisors, your project will be guided through formal pre-production and production processes to deliver a creative media project. If you are undertaking a specialisation in your course, you will be required to align it with this capstone project as part of the approval process.

This unit is designed to support the pre-production process, long term success of the project and the fair and equitable contribution of group members. You'll present to the panel your forward plan for the project, which demonstrates rigourous pre-production processes to mitigate risk to ensure the project can be delivered on time and to specification.

Once you successfully complete this unit the emphasis of the capstone project development will move away from pre-production into full production mode.
Credit Points: 20

In this studio unit, you will focus on bringing games to a particular audience or market while continuing to develop their array of skills in visual art, audio, project management, writing, and other game production-related fields necessary to bring a game project to release.

You will examine and implement the commercial sustainability of projects, and understand the marketing and communications needs of various markets and platforms. You'll apply an understanding of monetisation, market analysis, issues of intellectual property and the ethics of game design.
Credit Points: 20

Using the project plan and pre-production work that you completed in the Major Project Development Unit, you'll adopt a quality framework that will lead to the publication of a final creative piece.

This quality process will be accountable to multiple, external stakeholders and will test your ability to problem solve, evaluate and synthesise information to the standard that we expect from all SAE graduates. Throughout this journey, you will interact with your classmates and other key stakeholders using the processes and systems and that you would have developed throughout your course.

The publication and subsequent success of the final deliverable will represent the broadening and deepening of your professional practice which has occurred during your journey.
Credit Points: 10

Gain an introduction to the principles of entrepreneurship to create and operate your own creative media small business venture. Through analysing the global media landscape, You'll be able to identify and explore start-up opportunities within the creative industries.

This unit is designed to be done in parallel with your capstone project. You'll apply the skills and knowledge from this unit to formulate a rigorous business case to help you commercialise your capstone project and use it as a basis for a creative media start-up.
Credit Points: 10

Future jobs will require workers to learn on the job; focus on relationships with people; have strong communication skills; use a range of transferable skills. Research consistently points to the benefits of students being prepared with documents that are required for job applications, such as a Resume, Cover Letter, and E-portfolio.

In addition, the value of a Work Placement which provides you with professional experience and an opportunity to use skills and knowledge gained from study to complement this.

The Work Placement for SAE Bachelor students requires a minimum of 80 hours at one or more host organisation. Both the student and the host are required to complete an SAE Agreement which formalises the placement.
Credit Points: 10
CRICOS Course Codes
GAMES DESIGN: GA7G4 080196J (6 TRIMESTERS) 080175C (8 TRIMESTERS) 102340J (9 TRIMESTERS)
GAMES PROGRAMMING: GA7P4 102299E (6 TRIMESTERS) 080174D (8 TRIMESTERS) 102832M (9 TRIMESTERS)
Australian Qualifications Framework
AQF Level: 7 FULLY ACCREDITED BY TEQSA
INDUSTRY PARTNERS. INDUSTRY PARTNERS.
We consult closely with industry professionals so you can expect a course that’s highly relevant and equips you with sought-after skills.
Gamer

Career Outcomes

What jobs will this course lead to?

  • Game Designer
  • Game Economy Designer
  • Level Designer
  • Simulation Specialists
  • Analysts
  • Community Managers
  • Systems Designer
  • User Experience Designer
  • Graphics Programmer
  • Games Writer
Games

YOUR DREAM CAREER BEGINS NOW

With our industry connections, specialised teachers and personalised education in world-class facilities, you can unleash your creative future with confidence.
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