The games industry has experienced explosive growth in recent years because of the popularity of PvP and the rise in smartphone gaming, but how is the next generation being trained?

According to a study conducted by Game Developer Marketing, there are an estimated 6.5 million developers globally, which is continually on the rise and attracts thousands of career hunters.

So, Overheat spoke to the Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM), which four years ago created a course that incorporates all aspects of video game development, from music, and scripting to programming and graphic design.

Paul Clark, a university graphic art lecturer, who previously was employed by Microsoft, Google and Apple, said: “The ACM has been going for over 25 years and we have got a lot of history and pedigree in music, and helped to created people who have sold quite a lot of albums like Ed Sheeran.

“However, the gaming industry is rapidly increasing, so the academy decided to go into computer games to incorporate our knowledge of music into video game development.

“Since its creation, we’ve got well over 100 students, and it’s just brilliant. We are killing it, and we get to meet students who are at times, a lot of work, but are absolutely brilliant in their fields.

“Many want to get into the future of how people listen to music through games and in-game creation. I love the delight in the students and the games they have made to showcase, they are so impressive and the future of game development.”

According to Forbes, game development and design are very popular career options for many students, with expected salaries from £66,000 to 100,000 per annum.

Chris Malfoy, a third-year student at the ACM who specialises in script writing for games said: “When I first began at ACM, we essentially started with the fundamentals, the basics, learning, and programming, and then went off from there and branched into different design techniques, like traditional 3D pixel art.

“Currently, I’m learning how to create scripts for different cutscenes in the games, which I record, edit and add a level of intractability, so someone can choose different pathways in the game. I really like doing this because it allows the game to have a voice and creates an emotive experience.

“When it comes to writing a script, usually for me I like to get all the background done first so that I get an idea of what exactly this world would sound like. So, I create this world from the ground up and ask myself: What exactly would it be like? What’s the effect of it on gamers? Is it maybe more Game of Thrones where it’s really dark and serious? Or is it maybe more Lord of the Rings where it’s very fantasy-driven and very uplifting?

The video game industry has required many various forms and techniques from writers, since their advancement from the 1970s and there are currently thousands of writers working in games globally.

“For my current project, I’ve met a middle ground, so I wanted it to be dramatic, but still enjoyable, giving it a sense of charm. However, the hardest thing to learn and implement was to give a natural feeling to the dialogue because obviously, it is not real, but it needs to be made to feel real, something which I could learn from this degree. There is so much back and forth, back and forth, and requires a lot of patience.”

It is not just Scripting plays an important role in game development, it is also music composition, which is one of the most critical parts of the entire development because it sets the mood and can create suspense.

Peter Freesat, another third-year student at the ACM who specialises in music composition for video and films, said: “I’m currently making music for five different games. The process is very lengthy, and I usually spend a lot of time interviewing a developer to gain an understanding of what they want. Then I show them a general skeleton which I think would fit with their game, and then consistently get feedback from them.”

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in the industry, and they generally said that contractual work for composing music is really popular and needed for indie developers. I think it’s definitely a niche, particularly when you have to design music for a fast array of games and scenarios.

The number of UK graduates in video game development has risen in the past 10 consecutive years, according to Tiga.

Statistics from Tiga also suggested the number of students graduating almost tripled in 2021 to 1,380 graduates, from 595 in 2012. Courses which were included in these figures ranged from Games, computer game programming, computer game design and computer game graphics and did not include scripting and music composition.

James Bashford, in his final year, specialises in game design and talked through the process: “The biggest challenge to game design is filling up the space. I had to find creative and clever ways to fill up space in many games, so I added big holes, and different textures to give a bit more personality.

“I am currently creating a space sci-fi horror game that wanted to incorporate accessibility, so we designed it so that some of your senses get cut off, and you have to use different ways to navigate the terrain. For instance, my friend made a gun that scans different parts of the map and creates dots in different directions that illuminate the map. I made a shader that creates echolocation based on audio sources. “I am not currently sure what I want to do, but I know for a fact that game dev is incredibly fun for me and it is probably the most likely path I’m going to take in the future.”

“Currently, I’m learning how to create scripts for different cutscenes in the games, which I record, edit and add a level of intractability, so someone can choose different pathways in the game. I really like doing this because it allows the game to have a voice and creates an emotive experience.

“When it comes to writing a script, usually for me I like to get all the background done first so that I get an idea of what exactly this world would sound like. So, I create this world from the ground up and ask myself: What exactly would it be like? What’s the effect of it on gamers? Is it maybe more Game of Thrones where it’s really dark and serious? Or is it maybe more Lord of the Rings where it’s very fantasy-driven and very uplifting?

The video game industry has required many various forms and techniques from writers, since their advancement from the 1970s and there are currently thousands of writers working in games globally.

“For my current project, I’ve met a middle ground, so I wanted it to be dramatic, but still enjoyable, giving it a sense of charm. However, the hardest thing to learn and implement was to give a natural feeling to the dialogue because obviously, it is not real, but it needs to be made to feel real, something which I could learn from this degree. There is so much back and forth, back and forth, and requires a lot of patience.”

It is not just Scripting plays an important role in game development, it is also music composition, which is one of the most critical parts of the entire development because it sets the mood and can create suspense.

Peter Freesat, another third-year student at the ACM who specialises in music composition for video and films, said: “I’m currently making music for five different games. The process is very lengthy, and I usually spend a lot of time interviewing a developer to gain an understanding of what they want. Then I show them a general skeleton which I think would fit with their game, and then consistently get feedback from them.”

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in the industry, and they generally said that contractual work for composing music is really popular and needed for indie developers. I think it’s definitely a niche, particularly when you have to design music for a fast array of games and scenarios.