UN gets serious about gaming with the launch of new course

The University of Northampton has responded to huge growth in the serious gaming industry by launching a master’s degree that focuses on this increasingly popular area of computing.

Serious games are defined as those designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment – for example, to educate or train users.

They are commonplace across a wide breadth of sectors, including defence, education and training, engineering, planning environment, medicine and behavioural change. Examples range from a simple mobile fitness app for joggers through to a flight simulator to train airline pilots.

Dr Scott Turner, Associate Professor in Computing and Immersive Technologies at the University, pictured, said: “Our master’s degree will equip students with the skills and technological knowhow to allow them to successfully forge a career in this field.

“There are only three other universities offering such a course in the whole of Europe, and so we are very excited to be running it here at the University of Northampton, where we have academic staff with considerable experience in serious gaming.”

Market research firm, Ambient Insight, has predicted the global serious games market will grow from $1.5 billion in 2012 to $2.3 billion in 2017, with much of the projected growth attributed to the growth in mobile phone apps.

“The serious games industry is already very big and will continue to grow,” added Scott.

“You only have to look at the number of serious games that are available on Google Play or iTunes’ App Store, and it’s clear they are not going to go away – they are becoming part of everyday life for many people.”

To find out more about the Serious Games MSc course, visit the course page.