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Start   >  Master's & postgraduate courses  >  Education  >  Continuing education master's degree in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games
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Presentation

Information 2024-2025 edition
The 2024-2025 edition of the continuing education master's degree has already begun. Shortly we will publish updated information about the new edition of this programme.
Edition
21th Edition
Credits
60 ECTS (345 teaching hours)
Delivery
Face-to-face
Language of instruction
English
Fee
€8,500
Special conditions on payment of enrolment fee and 0,7% campaign
Registration open until the beginning of the course or until end of vacancies.
Next course
October of 2025
Timetable
Monday: 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Tuesday: 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Thursday: 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Taught at
Tech Talent Center
C/ de Badajoz, 73-77
Barcelona
Why this continuing education master's degree?
The video game industry strengthens its position as one of the Spanish economy's engines of growth, offering a wide array of opportunities for all companies and participating in job creation. According to data published in the 2023 White Paper on Spanish Video Game Development, estimates suggest that Spanish companies working in this area had a turnover of 1,383 million euros in 2022, an increase of 8% compared to 2021. Of this turnover, 51% corresponds to Catalonia. Looking ahead, aggregate growth for the period 2022-26 is estimated at 8%, which would bring the sector's turnover in Spain to 1,880 million.

There are currently 790 active studios in Spain. Catalonia accounts for 30% of the active studios, followed by Madrid, with 21%, and Andalusia, with 14%.

This means that as a sector, it has high potential for employment. The fact that 83% of employees have completed some form of higher education must be considered. The video game development and production industry requires its professionals to be highly skilled, and as such high-quality training and constant adaptation to the industry’s needs are essential.

Therefore, the UPC School presents a solid and consolidated training offer both in video game programming and in art and animation. It consists of the Master in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games, aimed at programmers interested in creating video games of any complexity, genre and platform, and the Master in Animation & Digital Arts for AAA Video Games, which is for designers, animators and technical artists who will acquire the ability to develop the entire artistic process of creating a video game.

The link between this training and the business world is fundamental and essential. More than 50 companies have participated in the master's degrees, offering master sessions and conferences to enrolled students, through which they transmit their knowledge and bring them closer to the reality of the sector.

Furthermore, this master's degree is held in an international environment, not just because it is taught in English, but because of the origin of its students. Programmers and artists of different nationalities coexist.

In addition, it must be emphasized the teaching staff, that is formed by professionals of the sector with an experience of more than fifteen years and the high level of employment, as well as the opportunity to carry out internships within the collaborating companies. As a result of all this methodology and of an essentially professional nature, Social Point's participation is added through its sponsorship to the Three Headed Monkey Awards.

Project gallery

Aims
At the end of the programme, the participants will be able to individually implement any video game from scratch in C++. They will understand and implement all aspects of a video game: technology, graphic programming, animation systems, artificial intelligence, gameplay systems, physics, etc.

They will produce their own 3D video game engine in groups, the tool to work with it, as well as an ambitious project in large teams, and learn to successfully carry out all the management that this entails.
Who is it for?
Aimed at programmers interested in the creation of video games of any kind, complexity and platform.

Graduates in Computer Science or Engineering,  professionals with programming knowledge that show interest in the video game industry.

Training Content

List of subjects
2 ECTS 15h
Industry
  • History.
  • Industry.
  • Development.
  • Production.
5 ECTS 27h
C++ for Video Games
  • Advanced C++.
  • Developement games 2D.
  • Tile Based Engines.
  • Physics.
4 ECTS 24h
Game Design
  • Creativity.
  • Game Vision Document.
  • Game Design Document.
  • AAA Game Design.
  • Indie Game Design.
5 ECTS 27h
Level Design
  • Level Designer.
  • Navigation, Goals, objectives and rewards.
  • Design Modular.
  • Exercise Stage 3D.
6 ECTS 42h
Tech & Dev
  • Building a Game Engine.
  • QA.
  • Iterations build.
  • Model.
  • Advanced Graphics.
  • Scripting & Finite State Machines (FSM).
  • PartSyst & Trails.
  • Shaders.
  • Augmented Reality.
  • Sound.
7 ECTS 42h
3D Game Engine
  • Game programming patterns.
  • Game engine architecture.
  • Game objects creation.
  • Gameplay systems.
  • Graphics layer.
  • Physics layer.
  • GUI layer.
  • Audio layer.
6 ECTS 33h
Graphics & Animation
  • OpenGL.
  • Space partitioning.
  • Visibility.
  • Models.
  • Animated models.
  • Scene tree.
  • Especial effects.
  • Shaders.
5 ECTS 30h
AI & Gameplay Systems
  • Physics.
  • Logic.
  • FSM.
  • Scripting with Lua.
  • Artificial intelligence.
  • Augmented Reallity.
  • Sound.
  • Networking.
3 ECTS 15h
Business
  • Financing and crowdfunding.
  • Models Monetization.
  • Digital -Distribution.
  • Big Data.
  • App Store Optimization (ASO).
3 ECTS 15h
Communication
  • Elevator pitch.
  • Video and press release.
  • Webs and publishers.
  • Preparation CV and interview.
3 ECTS 21h
Studios
  • Multiplatform Development.
  • Indie studios.
  • Technical Arts.
  • Publishers.
  • AAA Studios.
  • Social Games.
11 ECTS 54h
Project
The master's project will be carried out in groups formed by students of the Master in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games and the Master in Animation & Digital Arts for AAA Video Games. As well as other students from music schools.

A video game project with its own technology is developed, implementing an engine from scratch with C ++ and OpenGL. Its own interface, Unity style, is implemented to facilitate communication between programmers and graphic designers.

The groups simulate the creation of a team, with the definition of all roles, scrum methodology, with its brand action, communication and social networks visibility.

At upcvideogames blog, you can see the projects of the master's previous editions.

Degree
Continuing education master's degree in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games, issued by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Issued by virtue of the provisions of art. 7.1 of Organic Law 2/2023 of 22 March, concerning the University System, and art. 36 of Royal Decree 822/2021 of 28 September, which establishes the organisation of university education and the procedure for ensuring its quality. A prior official university qualification is necessary to obtain it. Otherwise, the student will receive a certificate of completion of the programme issued by the Fundació Politècnica de Catalunya. Lifelong learning studies at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya are approved by the University's Governing Council on an annual basis. (See details appearing on the certificate).

Learning methodology

The teaching methodology of the programme facilitates the student's learning and the achievement of the necessary competences.



Learning tools
Participatory lectures
A presentation of the conceptual foundations of the content to be taught, promoting interaction with the students to guide them in their learning of the different contents and the development of the established competences.
Practical classroom sessions
Knowledge is applied to a real or hypothetical environment, where specific aspects are identified and worked on to facilitate understanding, with the support from teaching staff.
Success stories
Outstanding business knowledge and experiences with high added value acquired during an outstanding professional career are presented and shared.
Visits
These visits are to specialist centres, companies in the sector or outstanding and important locations in the sector, in order to obtain knowledge in situ of development, production and demonstration environments within the programme.
Problem-based learning (PBL)
An active learning methodology that enables the student to be involved from the beginning, and to acquire knowledge and skills by considering and resolving complex problems and situations.
Tutorship
Students are given technical support in the preparation of the final project, according to their specialisation and the subject matter of the project.
Assessment criteria
Attendance
At least 80% attendance of teaching hours is required.
Level of participation
The student's active contribution to the various activities offered by the teaching team is assessed.
Work out projects
Studies on a specific topic, by individuals or groups, in which the quality and depth of the work is assessed, among other factors.
Completion and presentation of the final project
Individual or group projects in which the contents taught in the programme are applied. The project can be based on real cases and include the identification of a problem, the design of the solution, its implementation or a business plan. The project will be presented and defended in public.
Work placements & employment service
Students can access job offers in their field of specialisation on the My_Tech_Space virtual campus. Applications made from this site will be treated confidentially. Hundreds of offers of the UPC School of Professional & Executive Development employment service appear annually. The offers range from formal contracts to work placement agreements.
Virtual campus
The students on this continuing education master's degree will have access to the My_ Tech_Space virtual campus - an effective platform for work and communication between the course's students, lecturers, directors and coordinators. My_Tech_Space provides the documentation for each training session before it starts, and enables students to work as a team, consult lecturers, check notes, etc.

Teaching team

Academic management
  • Alonso Alonso, Jesús
    info
    View profile in futur.upc
    Head of Video Games Area of Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). Assistant Professor at Computing Science Department at UPC.
Teaching staff
  • Ajenjo Rodríguez, Rubén
    info

    Graduate from the UPC in Computer Engineering with a mention in Computing. Master's degree in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games from the UPC School of Professional & Executive Development (UPC School). Senior AI programmer at Remedy Entertainment
  • Alonso Alonso, Jesús
    info
    View profile in futur.upc
    Head of Video Games Area of Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). Assistant Professor at Computing Science Department at UPC.
  • Arellano Távara, Diana
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Currently I am the CGI-Development Chapter Lead at Accenture Song Content Germany, where I define and implement processes and organizational agility within a team of ~40 software developers & technical architects. For the past four years I have also been serving as Agile Master in different software development teams. Most recently I took the role of Project Lead of the BMW EVE (Emotional Virtual Experience) project, arealtime 3D rendered photorealistic vehicle configurator and presentation service for configurator frontends. I am also deeply involved as volunteer for the SIGGRAPH conference.
  • Arqué Gallardo, Alejandro
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    He has more than 17 years of experience creating professional video games, he has worked as Lead Game Designer at Digital Chocolate and Gameloft. In 2014, he entered Square Enix, where he has worked on different projects, including all Life is Strange, collaborating with Dontnod and Deck 9, as Senior Game Designer. Since February 2021 he has joined SuperMassive Games as Game Director in Switchback VR.
    He is a full member of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) since 2017 and got nominated to Best Game Designer in the Game Dev Heroes Awards of 2019 and winner of the Best Leadership award of 2022.
  • Bauzou, Aurélie
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Master of Science in Management, specialized in Human Resources from the EM Lyon Business School. Co-founder and managing partner of Power Up Talent, recruitment agency specialized in the video games' industry. With a total of 12 years of experience, 7 years recruiting in the gaming sector, both in-house at Scopely and at agencies. Background in organization and management consultancy firm.
  • Belmonte Martínez, Pablo Borja
    info

    Lead 3D Artist at Omnidrone. Art Director at LastBlast. Founder and Creative Director at hiPolygon.
  • Cabello Miguel, Tony
    info

    Computer Science Engineer from Ramon Llull University (La Salle). Founder of BlitWorks, a video game porting company that was acquired by Larian Studios, where he currently works as Engine & Consoles Code Producer. He has more than 25 years of experience in real-time graphics technology (applied to videogames, but also to entertainment or special applications), having worked with all kinds of platforms and modalities (software/hardware rendering, handheld/desktop, PC/Console).
  • Cerdà Pérez, Kevin
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Professional with more than 10 years of experience in the sector, co-founder of BeautiFun Games, where he worked as game designer and writer for Nihilumbra and Megamagic. Later, Lead Designer and Narrative Director in projects such as RiME or GYLT at Tequila Works. He was also responsible for narrative and design in the indie team SuperMegaTeam. Currently Creative Director at Tequila Works and design consultant.
    Previously, he worked as a designer and writer on projects such as The Knight Witch, RiME, Gylt, or Nihilumbra.
  • Font Moragas, David
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    He has 25 years of experience in audio for videogames and more than 16 years as a teacher. Nominated for best soundtrack for Yume (Desarrollador.es awards), composer and programmer of One Sequel (IMGA awards, Desarrollador.es) and Furby Island (IMGA awards, GameLab). Audio designer and editor at Kukoo Kitchen (ArtFutura awards). Audio analysis programming at Dance Fabulous (GameLab awards). Currently working with Tequila Works (Song Of Nunu: League of Legends Story) and teaching international classes on Technical Sound Design.
  • Fuentes de los Santos, Carlos
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Computer Engineer and Master in Video Games. He has 20 years of experience in the video game industry, as the AI Programmer at Pyro Studio, Lead Programmer and Graphics & Animation Programmer at Digital Legends and, currently, Rendering Engineer at Codemasters. I have published games for different platforms such as PC (Imperial Glory), iOS and Android mobiles (Battlefield Mobile, SplitSecond Mobile, Bruce Lee, Respawnables) and consoles (EA F122, F123 and F124). I have also been teaching how to make video games at the UPC for more than 7 years.
  • Gálvez Guerrero, Javier
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    He has 10 years of experience in the sector, he is story designer, programmer and producer at Mango Protocol, an independent studio that has created the videogame series Psychotic Adventures (MechaNika, Agatha Knife, Colossus Down, CLeM).
  • Gil González, Jordi
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Graduated in Computer Engineering with a mention in Computer Science from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). Holds a master's degree in Advanced Programming for AAA Video Games from the UPC School. He is currently working as a Tools Programmer at IO Interactive Barcelona.
  • Gil Ramos, Sebastián
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Associate Producer at Ubisoft.
  • Martín Pérez, Virginia
    info

    Higher level image course (Siglo XXI secondary school). Comics and illustration course (ESDIP School of Art). Graphic design and 3D modelling course (Arteneo). A professional with more than 15 years' experience in the video game industry. She has worked on various projects during her career, ranging from the recreational to the educational fields, with companies including Enigma Software Productions, Arkalis Interactive, Ubisoft, Lingokids, elite3d and Pendulo Studios. Her extensive experience includes specialisation in game and level design, and she has been involved in 12 projects for various platforms, including mobile phones and consoles.
  • Nafria Nagore, Ramon
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Computer Scientist from the la Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Since 1999 he has been combining tasks in videogame development (Alex Kidd in Miracle World Dx, Blues and Bullets, Funk of Titans, Sugar Kid, and currently several games, known as Glusiverse), videogame publishing (in Neon Doctrine, 2Awesome Studio, Eastasia Soft, 2Awesome Partners, Abylight and Badland Publishing), press (Anaitgames, Vandal, Onez, Ociojoven and Videoshock), teaching (UPC, UArts, La Florida, Enti) and creation of events (CDV 2008-11, Valencia Indie Summit 2018-2024).
  • Pillosu González, Ricardo Javier
    info

    He has 15 years of experience creating professional video games at companies like Pyto Studios and Crytek. He has held technical positions such as gameplay programmer, Artificail Intelligence and project management as the Development Manager and Development Director at Ryse: Son of Rome.
  • Ripoll Tarré, Marc
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Twenty years of experience in the 3D design sector, founder and Director at The Game Forger S.L., a company that creates video games in virtual reality. Extensive experience as a professor and lecturer at national and international universities.
  • Santamaria Pena, Ramon
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    a professional with more than 15 years of experience developing video games. Software Engineer and Technical Designer at Electronic Arts i Starloop Studios. Founder of the company emegeme, where we have published several products for mobile devices, and the company raylib technologies, where we develop video game technology. Professor and coordinator of video game projects for 6 years. Creator of raylib, an open source tool for the development of video games and graphic applications.
  • Torrents Poblador, Pere
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Economist, he has developed his professional career in the areas of business development and business management in the video games' industry. Currently, he is Director of Operations at AnchorPoint Studios - at NetEase Games Studio and professor at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, School of Professional Executive Development and Centre de la Imatge i Tecnologia Multimèdia in business and finance subjects, in Degrees and Masters in Video Games and Master in Big Data Management.
  • Tost Faus, Georgina
    info
    View profile in Linkedin
    Journalist and communicator with extensive experience, she has focused her career in the fields of technology, mobile applications, startups and video games. She is currently Secretary of Digital Policies of the Generalitat de Catalunya. She has led several companies, departments and technological initiatives, such as the European subsidiary of the Asian company IGG, or the digital department of several companies. She has also co-founded and been the CEO of the technology company and app promotion platform Geenapp. Author of Vida Extra Ed. Columna (Catalan) and Ed. Grijalbo (Spanish).

Associates entities

Strategic partners
  • Digital Legends Entertainment, S.L
    • Provides teachers and lecturers.
  • The Game Forger, S.L.
    • Provides teachers and lecturers.
Collaborating partners

Career opportunities

  • Gameplay programmer.
  • Game Engine programmer.
  • Tools Programmer.
  • Q&A Lead.
  • Level Designer.

Testimonials & news

Testimonials

I wanted to get some training to be able to work in the industry because doing it by yourself is very difficult. My goal was to be able to find a job at a videogame company either here in Spain or abroad. In the end, I found a job in Barcelona. This course gave me a lot of really useful theoretical knowledge that helped me start working. I especially liked the length of the course and the genuine interest that professors showed in helping us find work.

José Antonio Camacho Game Designer at Digital Chocolate

My academic training was in the area of Electronic Engineering but I was more interested in professional opportunities in the videogame area because I think it is more interesting and fun. In this Mater's course I learned fundamental concepts that have helped as a very useful starting point. I combined this course with my final project for the degree and focused my professional career towards this sector. Thanks to this master's course I got a job in Madrid working in programming and design and now I have specialised in design management.

Ramon Santamaría Technical Designer, Plunge Interactive

Videos
Starfall Rebellion - Final project of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (ed. 2022-2023)
Érimos - Final project of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (ed. 2021-2022)
Shutdown - Final project of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (ed. 2020-2021)
Final projects of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation
Twinlight Souls - Final project of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (ed. 2019-2020)
Three Headed Monkey Awards Day 2019
Alumni Experiences: Rubén Crispin de la Cruz
Final projects of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (Ed. 2017-2018)
Three Headed Monkey Awards Day 2018
Final projects of the master's degrees in Video Games and Animation (Ed. 2016-2017)
UPC School at the Barcelona Games World 2017

Request information or admission

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(34) 93 112 08 83
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  • If you have any doubts about the continuing education master's degree.
  • If you want to start the registration procedure.
How to start admission
To start the enrolment process for this programme you must complete and send the form that you will find at the bottom of these lines.

Next you will receive a welcome email detailing the three steps necessary to formalize the enrolment procedure:

1. Complete and confirm your personal details.

2. Validate your curriculum vitae and attach any additional required documentation, whenever this is necessary for admission.

In addition to your CV, the UPC School will also require you to submit the following documents for preregistration on this Continuing education master's degree:
    • Application letter.
    • Portfolio. You have to describe the projects where you have been involved, specifying the technology and tools used and a link where we can view these projects.
    Once the registration process is finished, we will send you a skills document that you will have to return filled out. We will also inform you how to perform the access test (online).

3. Pay €110 in concept of the registration fee for the programme. This fee will be discounted from the total enrolment fee and will only be returned when a student isn't admitted on a programme.

Once the fee has been paid and we have all your documentation, we will assess your candidacy and, if you are admitted on the course, we will send you a letter of acceptance. This document will provide you with all the necessary information to formalize the enrolment process for the programme.





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