HKU Games teaches you how to design games. You can choose to focus on gameplay design, on the interactive visuals or the actual programming of games. At our school, you have lots of space to try out and experiment, while you learn by doing. You get maximum freedom to follow your own personal route and discover and develop your specific talents. For this purpose, your work with professional game engines and the latest development software. The eventual goal is to create games that strike a chord, whether they are arthouse, indie, AAA or applied games. Everything’s allowed at HKU Games, as long as they are meaningful and relevant.
Links with the professional field
The bachelor’s studies of HKU Games have a strong reputation in the industry, where we are closely tied to. For example, our teachers are also working as designers in the creative industries. And our students and alumni work on projects for companies such as Guerrilla Games, Vertigo Games, CoolGames, Naughty Dog, &Ranj, Sokpop, Nixxes, Unity, Ubisoft, CD projekt RED, Capcom, Epic Games, Paladin Studios and Marvel Studios.But you might as well work with the National Museum, a TV broadcaster, the government, cultural institutions or other non-profit organisations.
We value cooperation
The demand for game designers is rapidly increasing. And so is the demand for specialist designers that are able to work together with other fields. The creation of a game involves many different professional disciplines. That’s why we let you work in teams a lot, learning how you can work together to achieve the best results.HKU Games works closely with other educational institutions for purposes of education and research, such as Utrecht University. We also have regular contact with international organisations for education and science, among others, in Switzerland, India, South-Korea and Japan. The games industry is a very international sector. Therefore, we stimulate our students to go abroad for an internship or minor studies. Or to work on projects with students from other countries.
Courses
HKU Games is at the cradle of the Dutch games industry. In the early 1990s, HKU was the first institution in the world that offered a fulltime programme for Interaction Design, from which our current fulltime game programmes have developed over the decades. Since then, HKU has brought forth thousands of graduated designers of interactive experiences. Many of them found a place, or created their place, in the Dutch games industry.Our education is innovative and inspiring. It is not limited to basic skills such as programming, visual design, game design and organisational skills; students also get internship experience and are trained in the business aspects of the work field. Naturally, technological developments are also addressed, as we train you how to quickly adopt new technologies. Finally, we also teach you how to work independently and remain in control. This ensures that you will become a flexible professional in a quickly changing field of work.