Program Overview

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Introduction to the BA (Hons) Game Art Program

The BA (Hons) Game Art program at Wrexham University is designed to provide students with the expertise needed to design and produce artistic elements for creative game projects. This program focuses on developing a strong portfolio of art work, preparing students for a successful career in the game industry.

Program Details

• UCAS Code: 305D
• Entry Year: 2026
• Course Duration: 3 years (full-time), 5 years (part-time)
• UCAS Tariff: 96-112
• Institution Code: G53
• Location: Wrexham

Why Choose This Course?

This course provides students with the opportunity to gain valuable experience and insight through creative freedom in managing their own game development projects. Students will have full access to the Creative Industries Building, including a modern Game Development Lab, Design Studio, Podcasting Room, and TV Studio. The program also offers close industry engagement with regular visits, guest speakers, presentations, discussion groups, and social events.

Key Features of the Course

• Emphasis on project and portfolio work to enable students to demonstrate skills through the development of content and portfolio pieces.
• Simulation of industry practice – gaining valuable experience and insight through creative freedom in managing their own game development projects.
• Training in industry-standard 2D and 3D design software, such as Adobe Suite, Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter, and ZBrush.
• Collaboration with students across the Games and Media department to form highly specialized teams with strengths in programming, design, art, and sound.
• Encouragement of entrepreneurial opportunities, including funding opportunities like Creative Wales and Tranzfuser, which support and fund new businesses in indie studios.
• Full access to the Creative Industries Building, including a modern Game Development Lab, Design Studio, Podcasting Room, and TV Studio.
• Benefit from our internal Mentoring system – you will have the opportunity to be paired with an experienced postgraduate student.
• Enjoy the benefits of close industry engagement with regular visits, guest speakers, presentations, discussion groups, and social events.
• Build a strong set of essential employability skills across technical and professional fields to support you into industry or self-employment.
• Join a thriving network of creative people in Wales.

What You Will Study

The degree is primarily designed for those wishing to pursue a career in the game art and related design industries. It explores all key aspects of game production processes, drawing on your imagination and using a variety of techniques from 2D concepts to 3D production on screen, including 3D modeling, sculpting, level design, and screen media. The emphasis is on your personal and professional development, communication skills, and entrepreneurial skills to make you ready for a dynamic industry that is constantly changing.

Year 1 (Level 4)

In the first year of study, you will be introduced to a variety of themes related to game art and design across aesthetic and design modules, as well as opportunities to expand on your skills in a full game project. You will start studying game design, 3D software, and concepting in the first semester, and then build on this to use Autodesk Maya to start creating characters from initial 2D drafts to final 3D sculpted characters.

Modules

• Game Design & Interaction: In this module, you will design and create a standalone piece of a 2D independent game in a collaborative group. You will be facilitated to have fun and explore 2D gameplay in simpler game creation software. This module is paired with Industry Game and Agile Production to repeat the full game production process.
• Game Asset Production: This module introduces you to the fundamentals of 3D modeling and integration with engine development by developing a modular 'Dungeon' environment. A simple 3D workflow pipeline is introduced with basic modeling, creating UVs, and texturing. You will complete a game asset package by showcasing it in Unreal Engine.
• Design Workshop: This specialized module focuses on key fundamental themes of game art and design and focuses on aesthetic themes that relate to real-world game design problems. This includes 2D and 3D workflows and design solutions.
• Game Environments and Narrative Design: This multidisciplinary module uses Unreal Engine to build a 3D environment with narrative and artistic themes. You will use this environment to create a game trailer for a game you haven't produced yet.
• Character Design and Digital Sculpting: This specialized module is designed to be your first opportunity to focus on the character design process, from initial concept to fully realized 3D character model.
• Game Industry and Agile Production: This module is an introduction to a range of themes across the game industry and production. This module is paired with Game Design & Interaction to enable you to present a live game project against a soft pitch.

Year 2 (Level 5)

The second year of study builds on the foundations of the first, encouraging you to start specializing in your area of interest. In the first semester, you will study two specialized modules and explore the world of environmental design in a more detailed manner, as well as producing interactive game characters in a game engine. In the second semester, the focus shifts to a 3D multiplayer game project led by students, where you will manage and present a significant portion of a 3D game while maintaining professional project management methodology.

Modules

• Character Asset Production for Game Engines: This specialized module reinforces 3D character development workflows with additional engine requirements. You will demonstrate understanding of optimizing characters for game engines by producing a character adaptation system in the engine.
• Real-Time Environmental Art for Game Engines: This specialized module focuses on creating aesthetically pleasing 3D environments using real-time game engine technologies. You will showcase a diorama with a focus on Unreal Engine and include elements such as concepting, white boxing, dressing a set, and composition in a standard industry workflow.
• Game Asset Production for Game Engines: This module introduces the full development pipeline for high-poly modeling to low-poly optimization, focusing on optimization and texturing. You will be facilitated through the full workflow pipeline with a small asset, then tasked with reattempting the workflow with a 2D concept of your choice.
• Serious Game Design: The purpose of this module is to introduce concepts of serious game design and development while relating it to the broader context of the game industry. This module explores the topic of serious games and its related terms such as gamification, applied games, and simulation.
• Group Project: This module is the first of two significant game projects in the program. You will develop a substantial portion of a 3D game in Unreal Engine. You will operate as an Indie Studio and be encouraged to follow funding plans, regional and national, to produce a complete game product and release it on a portfolio platform.
• Independent Game Studio Management: This module is designed to operate and facilitate project management (Group Project) through the lens of an Indie Game Studio. This module discusses agile work, mentoring, and peer-to-peer learning through a series of production meetings to discuss ongoing practice.

Year 3 (Level 6)

The final year of the course builds further on your subject specialisms, as the course starts to explore what opportunities exist for graduates in the game industry – whether in a larger studio or in your own indie studio. You will have final core and specialized modules; however, the major development project that runs from the start of the year until the summer will be the pinnacle of student achievement.

Modules

• Game Industry Specialist: In this module, you will analyze and dissect job roles and fields within the contemporary game industry. This will include a mock formal job interview against a specific game industry position.
• AAA Game Asset Production: This specialized module is designed to focus on producing high-quality models for your own portfolios. You must demonstrate a high understanding of 3D workflow techniques leading the industry throughout your work and will have the freedom to set its direction.
• Advanced Asset and Technical Art Production: This module tasks you with producing a project that focuses on your developmental specialization in line with contemporary game industry job roles. This module enables you to go towards 3D technology and asset production from a range of design and technical perspectives to support your ongoing specialist practice.
• Advanced Game Design and User Engagement: You will prepare, set up, test, and gather data through user testing/live playtesting on a live project (Project) and produce improvements based on test results. The advantage of this module is that it allows you to fine-tune the project through your own role in the development.
• Project: This module is designed to be the pinnacle of student achievement across the program. You will create a significant game project that will require a range of skills from a collaborative group. You will operate as Indie Studios and be encouraged to follow regional and national funding plans to produce a complete game product and release it on a portfolio platform.

Admission Requirements and Application

The academic requirements for the course are 96-112 UCAS tariff points at A-Level or equivalent. UG Diploma and Key Skills Level 3 are also considered.

The program team welcomes applications from anyone who shows commitment to the subject and the potential to complete their studies successfully. This can be established through prior academic achievement or by demonstrating that they possess the knowledge and ability equivalent to the academic qualifications.

International applicants and those without traditional entry qualifications may be invited for an interview and to present a portfolio of their work. It is also possible for experience to be considered.

Teaching and Assessment

How You Will Be Taught

Teaching and learning on this course are designed to support students from a variety of backgrounds. Students will have access to their tutors during and outside of scheduled sessions for support and guidance. Additional staff, such as Learning Support Assistants, Personal Assistants, and sign language interpreters, may also be part of the learning environment to support students.

The course utilizes a combination of learning environments, including significant use of computer laboratory rooms, production and assessment rooms, collaborative workspaces, and lectures. Every session presented will be supported by our VLE Moodle platform, with content such as internal and external videos, lecture slides, additional notes, and important links and files always available.

During your first year of study, you will be timetabled for four tutor-led sessions per week, typically over three days, with the remaining time suggested for self-directed learning. The tutor-led sessions will run between two to three hours each, depending on the module. Some modules will be taught with the wider game series and will include students from other game courses, while some will be for Game Art students only.

How You Will Be Assessed

Because of the nature of the subject, the course focuses on portfolio assessment with students creating work that represents their development and not formal examinations.

Assessment methods include game and game element production, practical work, presentations and pitches, assessment meetings, technical documentation, production data, and portfolio presentations. Additionally, during project modules, additional strategies are employed to track and balance work within teams to ensure fair assessment and ongoing development over longer periods.

Career Prospects

Our dedicated Careers and Employability team is committed to helping you achieve your professional goals. They provide personal advice, useful resources, and employability events to prepare you for the job market.

Graduates of this course can pursue careers in:

• 3D Character Artist
• Environmental Artist
• Character Animator
• 3D Asset Artist
• Concept Artist
• Technical Artist
• Weapons/Vehicle Artist
• UI/UX Developer
• 3D Sculptor
• Product Designer

You may also choose to develop your specialization through postgraduate studies. Explore our postgraduate courses for more information.

Fees and Funding

You don't have to pay your tuition fees upfront.

The fees you pay and the support available to you will depend on various factors, including your nationality, your family's income, and your personal circumstances. You can find full information on our fees and funding pages. You will also find information there on what your fees include in the Frequently Asked Questions about fees section.

All fees are subject to any changes in government policy.

Accommodation

At Wrexham University, we offer en-suite rooms on campus in our Wrexham Student Village. These private, fully-furnished rooms are in a convenient location, providing easy access to campus facilities, study areas, and social spaces. Also, you are just a 10-minute walk from the city center!

With all bills included, free Wi-Fi, 24/7 security, and large social spaces, you will have everything you need for a great student experience.

Explore our accommodation options to find your perfect home away from home.

International Students

For information on the university's entry requirements for EU/international students, please visit the international section.

Upcoming Open Days

Join us for an upcoming open day to meet your lecturers, discover more about our courses, explore our facilities, and get a taste of student life.

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21 March 2026

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Matthew McDonald-Dick

Related Courses

BA (Hons) Game Art (with Foundation Year)

BA (Hons) Game Art (with Industrial Placement)

BSc (Hons) Computer Game Development

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