Everything you need to know...
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What is the fee?
Home: See fees section below
International/EU: £18,000 per year -
How long will I study?
1 Year
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Where will I study?
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What is the UCAS code?
CC05
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When do I start?
September 2026
Course summary
- Dedicated PlayStation® 5 development studio
- Develop high-performance software with C++ and industry-standard tools for game development
- Explore game engine architecture, graphics rendering and advanced shader programming
- Gain experience through professional game development environments
This game programming degree blends core computer science with real-time rendering and software engineering. You’ll develop a commercial-quality portfolio and develop a deep understanding of how to create the tools behind today’s most successful games. The course prepares you for technical careers in the games industry and beyond.
Come to an open day
Visit us to learn more about our gold-rated teaching and why we were awarded the highest possible rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework.
How you learn
At Sheffield Hallam, all our courses are designed to engage you with the world and challenge you to think in new ways. You’ll get to collaborate with others, and you’ll be taught in a supportive environment where you can thrive.
You’ll learn through hands-on projects and studio-based work that replicates industry practices. As you progress, you'll develop critical thinking and reflective skills – giving you the confidence to evaluate your work, set career goals and continue developing post-graduation.
You learn through:
- group work
- lectures and seminars
- technical workshops in computer labs
- independent learning
- practice-based learning
Assessment methods include project-based coursework, technical reports and peer collaboration.
Key Themes
This top-up course builds upon your existing C++ games programming knowledge and will focus on shader development, world building, data-drive asset tools and custom in-game editors. You will also develop game engine architecture and optimisations.
The course builds towards two significant end-of-year showcases/award celebrations: GameOver and Game Republic. This gives you an opportunity to show your work to computer game industry professionals and recruiters.
You will also have the opportunity to work on commercial or research projects via our in-house games studio, Steel Minions.
Course-Level Support
You will be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate level employment through a number of key areas. These include:
- access to our unique student support triangle to help with your personal, academic and career development
- access to our Skills Centre with one-to-ones and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments
- industry-specific employability activities such as live projects, learning in simulated environments and networking opportunities
Applied learning
Live Projects
You'll have the chance to join Steel Minions, our in-house commercial game studio run by academic staff and students. Through Steel Minions, you’ll work on real-world projects with industry clients, research teams and publishers — from educational apps to console titles for PlayStation® 5 and PC.
Networking Opportunities
We work closely with studios including Sumo Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. These partnerships provide guest lectures, portfolio reviews and insights into hiring practices.
Competitions
You’ll be encouraged and supported to enter your work into student competitions – such as the TIGA Games Industry Awards – where we have a proven track record of competition success. These competitions provide valuable experience in interacting with games industry professionals.
Course leaders and tutors
Andrew Hamilton
Senior Lecturer, Course Leader for Computer Science for GamesStaff profile for Andrew Hamilton, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University
Modules
Module and assessment information for future years is displayed as currently validated and may be liable to change. When selecting electives, your choices will be subject to the core requirements of the course. As a result, selections may be limited to a choice between one of two or more specified electives in some instances.
Final year
Compulsory modules
This module is an applied project of work experience, enabling you to develop a successful game prototype – a ‘full vertical slice’ and a portfolio piece with industry-standard documentation. You’ll work with one or more game development platforms for handling real-time graphics rendering and simulation – using programming and scripting languages, editing tools, a viable asset pipeline and core gameplay code.
You’ll apply skills and learning such as:
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Rendering, collision management and particle systems
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Scene management and data-driven development
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Asset pipelines, shader technologies and gameplay
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Principles of design for contemporary computer games
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Creation and development of concept design documentation
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Designing and building a game prototype
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Evaluating design and evaluation paradigms and techniques
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Planning, testing, marketing, publishing and support
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Quality assurance, requirements engineering and configuration
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Version control, git-flow, agile methods, scrum and extreme programming
Students who enter this module typically have experience creating and developing low-level rendering applications for Windows-based PCs using frameworks such as DirectX 11. This module will expand the student's skill set by preparing them to work on additional games industry-standard platforms such as DirectX 12, and PlayStation 4 and 5.
Indicative Content:
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Low-level rendering techniques & concepts in the context of games console application development
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Diffuse lighting and ambient lighting with materials
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A range of light types such as point, spot, directional and the underpinning mathematics
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Texture mapping using UV coordinates and advanced techniques such as texture tiling and scrolling/animated textures
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Transparency-based techniques such as semi-transparency, clipping and fog effects
This module is a research project of your choice – you’ll identify a computer-based problem, investigate the requirements, analyse results of research undertaken and design, and develop and evaluate a solution to that problem. You’ll then evaluate the project’s success, your learnings and opportunities for further work.
You’ll apply skills and learning such as:
- Ideation and planning a larger-scale project
- Information gathering and literature reviews
- The selection of tools, techniques or methods
- Implementation, testing and user evaluation
- Critical reflection on project deliverables, success or failure
- Referencing and citation techniques
- Legal, social, and ethical considerations
- Security and confidentiality
- Sustainable development and deployment
- Employability skills and attributes
Elective modules
This module explores the deeper conceptual and technical features of software implementation techniques, specifically by using the C++ programming language. You’ll cover optimisation methods and gain practical experience in applying the features of C++ to develop software for complex solutions.
You’ll study topics such as:
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The standard template library and its structure, API and operation
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The facilities it offers to programmers, containers and iterators
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STL algorithms, developing new STL-like containers
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C++ templates, writing generic algorithms and code
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C++ optimisation techniques
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Multi-threading and efficiency
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Memory and resource management
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Exceptions, undefined behaviours and runtime execution
This module explores some of the important applications we use – from Google and Amazon to the many social media platforms – which have built their utility and success on top of machine learning systems. Using Python programming and a range of libraries, you’ll learn to understand recognition, prediction, rankings, recommendation systems, social bookmarking and more.
You’ll study topics such as:
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Machine learning in AI, social media, and web applications
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Python libraries for machine learning
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Recommendations based on the ‘likes’ of individuals and groups
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Using neural networks to learn about computer vision tasks
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Ranking search results based on the context they were created in
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Building pricing models using a variety of techniques
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Building systems whose intelligence evolves using genetic algorithms
The focus of the module is on the direct design of a deliverable, applying specific XR design and development paradigms to tailor the application to the unique platform. This may constitute the creation of XR software, or a full project plan to facilitate future development.
The module offers an opportunity to gain an understanding of the alternate technical and design requirements that are presented from XR, which differ from traditional computing peripherals & systems.
Indicative content
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Developing knowledge and awareness of XR (virtual, augmented and mixed reality) software & hardware.
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Researching the ethical, social and health-related impacts of XR in modern applications.
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Applying current development methodologies to plan or create an XR deliverable.
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User-centric navigation in VR and best practices.
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XR distribution platforms and target audience
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Applications of XR for gaming, serious game, and simulation.
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Creating interactive environments in XR.
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Haptic technologies, and the future of XR.
Future careers
This course prepares you for a career in:
- game development for console and PC
- game engine programming
- graphics or shader programming
- gameplay programming
- quality assurance and test engineering
Previous graduates of this course have gone on to work for:
- Rocksteady Studios
- Sumo Digital
- Tanglewood Games
- Frontier Developments
Equipment and facilities
Most teaching takes place in our specialist games development labs, equipped with the latest industry-standard hardware and software.
On this course you work with:
- PlayStation® 5 development kits with full software stacks
- Industry tools including Visual Studio, 3D Studio Max, Blender, Git, RenderDoc
- Game evaluation areas and arcade systems for testing and fun
- Virtual Reality headsets
Where will I study?
You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.
City Campus
City Campus is located in the heart of Sheffield, within minutes of the train and bus stations.
City Campus map | City Campus tour
Adsetts library
Adsetts Library is located on our City Campus. It's open 24 hours a day, every day.
Learn moreEntry requirements
All students
HND, or equivalent, where games programming is the focus, and must include experience of programming in C\C++. Students whose first language is not English will also need to meet the English competence requirements of an overall IELTS score of 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 in each of the four skills), or equivalent.
Additional information for EU/International students
If you are an International or non-UK European student, you can find out more about the country specific qualifications we accept on our international qualifications page.
For details of English language entry requirements (IELTS), please see the information for 'All students'.
Fees and funding
Home students
Tuition fees for 2026/27 are not yet confirmed. Our tuition fee for UK students on full-time undergraduate degree courses in 2025/26 is £9,535 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year). These fees are regulated by the UK government and therefore subject to change in future years.
If you are studying an undergraduate course, postgraduate pre-registration course or postgraduate research course over more than one academic year then your tuition fees may increase in subsequent years in line with Government regulations or UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) published fees. More information can be found in our terms and conditions under student fees regulations.
International students
Our tuition fee for International/EU students starting full-time study in 2026/27 is £18,000 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year)
Financial support for home/EU students
How tuition fees work, student loans and other financial support available.
Additional course costs
The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses. These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses. Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course.
General course additional costs
Additional costs for School of Computing and Digital Technologies (PDF, 600.1KB)Legal information
Any offer of a place to study is subject to your acceptance of the University’s Terms and Conditions and Student Regulations.
