Game Animation BA(Hons)

Specialise as a games animator, one of the games industry’s most sought-after roles. If you have the passion, we’ll teach you what you need to know – from mastering core animation principles in a game development context to rigging and animating characters in real time to implement into major game engines.

On this Game Animation course, you'll work in studio-style collaborative teams mirroring industry practice as you work through full implementation of the game animation pipeline. You’ll graduate with a rich portfolio of work, ready to launch your games career.

Why Study This Course at Falmouth?

We’re ranked as the number one university for game design in England (Princeton Review, 2025) and have some of the largest and best-equipped dedicated student game-making facilities in the country.
You’ll learn from professional game animators, developers and artists who have worked on titles like Hitman, League of Legends, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XII.
You’ll collaborate in multi-skilled teams to create real games from the outset, keeping the Intellectual Property (IP) of any games you produce.
Our graduates have worked in animator roles for Respawn on Apex Legends and at Creative Assembly, Frontier, nDreams and Ubisoft.

Course Details

Course Study Options

You can gain your Game Animation BA(Hons) degree in three years or choose to add an Integrated Foundation Year and/or professional placement year.

Three year degree
Four year degree with Integrated Foundation Year
Four year degree with professional placement

Course Structure

Year one

You'll learn what it takes to make an animated game, including asset creation, project management and development pipelines, pitching ideas and considering theories about what games are and how they engage players.
Developing your skills in animation, you'll enhance cross-disciplinary groups as you pitch a game and build it as part of a collaborative team.

Modules

Development Foundations
Digital Creativity
Game Animation 1
Reading Games
Multidisciplinary Teamwork
Game Animation 2

Year two

With greater confidence in your skills, you'll mirror professional game development as you tackle a larger game project in a multi-skilled group.
Over the course of the year, you'll research and experiment with various approaches to game animation and create innovative features.
You'll investigate strategies to enhance the player experience and learn what drives industry trends and developments from visiting professionals.

Modules

Game Form and Player Experience
World Building: Pre-production
Game Animation 3
World Building: Production
Portfolio Development

Professional placement (optional)

You can choose to take an optional professional placement after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year.
You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the Employability team.

Year three

During the final year of your Game Animation course, you'll produce a complete and potentially publishable game as part of a team.
By pitching it to industry professionals, you'll receive reliable and insightful feedback.
You'll also research a topic relevant to your project and build an online portfolio with a clear centrepiece, sharpening your real-world insights and building valuable career contacts.

Modules

Experience Design
Future Skills
Professional Portfolio
Future of Games
Major Collaboration

Integrated Foundation Year (optional)

Why study an Integrated Foundation Year route?
If you’re taking on a new subject that you haven’t studied in depth before, have been out of education for a while or have a non-standard educational background then an Integrated Foundation Year degree may be the right choice for you.
It is a four-year degree with an Integrated Foundation Year to start, which allows you to explore the primary elements of your subject before progressing on to the remaining three years of the BA(Hons) degree.

Modules

Explore
Technique
Apply
Industry
Launch

How You'll Learn & Be Assessed

How you'll learn

You'll create original animated games through group work, professional practice and Game Jams.
You'll also develop practical skills through practice-based workshops and learn to evaluate and improve your work through group tutorials, crits, and individual tutorials.

How you'll be assessed

100% of your assessment will be coursework.
Teamwork features heavily to reflect the industry.
Game making is the primary form of assessment.
Continuous assessment with no formal examinations.
Visual, verbal and written assignments.
Portfolio of project work.

Facilities

Large studio equipped with regularly updated, state-of-the-art game development machines, crash mats and soft animation props.
Rokoko Smartsuit Pro 2 motion capture suits, including Smartgloves and Face Capture.
Life drawing studio for artists and weekly life drawing sessions.
Specialised computing hardware for game development, deep learning projects, motion capture and immersive experiences.
Standard packages used in software development for the games and visual effects industries, including Adobe and Autodesk suites.
Attached lab committed to staying at the cutting edge - featuring augmented reality, virtual reality AR/VR/MR (XR) equipment including HoloLens, HoloLens 2 and Meta Quest 3 & 2.
Attached lab with access to PS5 development and testing kits.
Access to a variety of game engines including Unity and Unreal.
Access to voice over and video recording facilities.
Studios open late during term time.
Access to free software.

Staff

You'll be taught by professional game animators, developers and artists coming from companies like Square-Enix, Octopus 8 Studios and Disney as well as indie studios.
Together, they have worked on titles like Hitman, League of Legends, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XII.

Careers

As a Game Animation graduate, you could become a:
- Cinematic Artist
- Animator
- Junior Animator for VR
- Games Animator
- Creature Animator
- Gameplay Animator
- Character Animator
- Trainee motion capture technician.

How to Apply

Ready to apply for 2025?
You can apply for our undergraduate degrees via UCAS.
You'll need our university UCAS code (F33) as well as your course code (which you'll find on your course page) for your application.

Application Advice & Interview Information

Go to Toolkit
Deadlines
- For starting your studies in 2025
- UK applications: 29 January 2025 (for equal consideration)
- Applications after the 29 January will be considered on a first-come, first-served as long as there are places available.
- Apply for this course now.
- International fee payers
- International fee payers can apply throughout the year.
- But we recommend applying as early as possible, to make time for visa and travel arrangements.

Entry Requirements

We consider all applications on their own individual merit and potential.
We invite all applicants to an interview day or audition to give them the opportunity to demonstrate this along with what inspires and motivates them in their field.
Applicants will also be able to show their portfolio or give a performance depending on the course.
We welcome applications from all subject backgrounds, whether you’ve specialised in STEM, the arts or humanities.

Course Routes & Entry Requirements

BA/BSc(Hons) three year degree: 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with professional placement: 104 – 120 UCAS Tariff points
BA/BSc(Hons) four year degree with Integrated Foundation Year: 80 – 120 UCAS Tariff points

Language Requirements

For applicants whose first language is English we require you to have or be working towards GCSE English Language Grade 4 (C), or equivalent.
If English is not your first language you will need to meet the same standard which is equivalent to the IELTS Academic 6.0 overall score, with at least 5.5 in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
We accept a range of in country equivalencies and approved tests.

Fees, Costs & Funding

Tuition fees for students starting the course in September 2025
- Annual tuition fee: £9,535 per year (Full-time UK)
- Annual tuition fee: £17,950 per year (Full-time EU/international)
- Annual tuition fee: £1,905 per professional placement year (Full-time UK and EU/international)
- Annual tuition fee: £9,535 per Integrated Foundation Year (Full-time UK)
- Annual tuition fee: £17,950 per Integrated Foundation Year (Full-time EU/international)
Typical course costs
- £1500 - Laptop or desktop capable of running 3D modelling software
- £150 - Recommended reading
- £30-£150 - Headset with microphone
- £25-£100 - Webcam
Additional typical course costs for Integrated Foundation Year pathway
- £250 for materials
- A laptop/desktop computer
- Adobe Creative Suite
Funding
- For information about funding available, please visit our student funding pages.

Ask a Student

What better way to find out about life at Falmouth University than by asking our current students?
From course details and academic support, to the social scene and settling in, our students are ready and available to answer any questions you might have.
Simply set up your account, send them a question and they'll get back to you within 24 hours.

Similar Courses

Computer Science BSc(Hons)
Esports & Livestreaming BA(Hons)
Robotics BSc(Hons)
Game Development BA(Hons)
Game Art BA(Hons)
Computing for Games BSc(Hons)

Program Outline

Game Animation BA(Hons)

Degree Overview:

Specialize as an animator working on games. The program equips you with the skills and knowledge to become a game animator, one of the most sought-after roles in the games industry. You will learn core animation principles in a game development context, rigging and animating characters for implementation in major game engines. You'll work in studio-style collaborative teams mirroring industry practice as you work through the full implementation of the game animation pipeline. You'll graduate with a rich portfolio of work, ready to launch your games career.

Outline:

Year One:

Development Foundations: Introduction to game animation principles, key roles, terminology, and tools used in game development.
Working as part of a small team: Practice prototyping methods and pitch an idea for a future game project.
Digital Creativity: Experimenting with various digital media formats, manipulating digital artifacts, and integrating them with game engines for interactive work.
Game Animation 1: Regular animation exercises to deepen knowledge of key animation principles, rigging, and animation workflows.
Reading Games: Studying and writing about the nature of digital experiences, markets, and production contexts.
Multidisciplinary Teamwork: Produce a digital product or service in response to a brief, manage a software development project, and apply specialist game animation skills in a development pipeline.
Game Animation 2: Develop advanced rigging and animation skills, with an emphasis on facial rigging and motion capture.

Year Two (Optional placement year):

Game Form and Player Experience: Explore the relationship between game design and player experience, theories of gameplay, and popular methodologies like ludic experiences and narratives.
World Building: Pre-production: Design a concept for a digital “world creation” project, understanding key game animation principles, world-building, exploratory concept work, prototyping, and pre-production phases.
Game Animation 3: Develop advanced rigging and animation skills, with an emphasis on facial rigging and motion capture.
World Building: Production: Continue design and build your “world creation” project while working in multi-skilled teams.
Portfolio Development: Work on a self-devised portfolio piece for an industry competition, honing skills and gaining confidence while building a professional portfolio.

Year Three:

Experience Design: Create a product or service centered around experience design, including animated short films, interactive novels, animation for apps, motion capture sequences, or animated assets for a specific media experience.
Future Skills: Develop commercial awareness and an entrepreneurial mindset, explore career options, and research skills required to set up your own business, freelance, or work for a company.
Professional Portfolio: Broaden your knowledge of employment and enterprise opportunities in the industry, receive mentoring on applying for work, and receive CV and portfolio advice.
Major Collaboration: Leverage skills learned across the three years to deliver a substantial collaborative project.
Technique: Subject-specific workshops to develop essential technical and practical skills in your area of study.
Apply: Work with peers to address a societal or global issue and think beyond discipline.
Industry: Enhance creative and practical skills in your subject specialization by responding to industry briefs, underpinned by focused research and experiments.
Launch: Develop your unique identity in your specialization through self-initiated project work.

Assessment:

100% of the assessment is coursework-based. The program uses a variety of assessment methods, including teamwork, game making, continuous assessment, visual, verbal, and written assignments, and portfolio of project work.

Teaching:

Students learn through group work, professional practice, Game Jams, and practice-based workshops. The program features specialist first-year modules shared with other Games Academy courses and a shift towards project teamwork and rich, character-driven animation as the course progresses. The University uses a "digitally enhanced learning & teaching" approach, where the experience is predominantly in-person with some online elements.

Careers:

Graduates can pursue careers as:

Cinematic Artist
Animator
Junior Animator for VR
Games Animator
Creature Animator
Gameplay Animator
Character Animator
Trainee motion capture technician

Other:

The program is ranked number one for game design in England by The Princeton Review (2023).
Students have access to professional-standard studios, a dedicated craft room, breakout spaces, and a large studio equipped with state-of-the-art game development machines, crash mats, and soft animation props.
The program is taught by professional game animators, developers, and artists with experience in companies like Square-Enix, Octopus 8 Studios, and Disney.
Graduates have worked in animator roles for Respawn on Apex Legends and at Creative Assembly, Frontier, nDreams, and Ubisoft.

Annual tuition fee Student Full-time UK £9,250 per year Annual tuition fee Student Full-time EU/international £17,950 per year Annual tuition fee Student Full-Time UK and EU/international £1,850 per professional placement year