Book an open day
Apply now
Book an open day
Apply now
Apply Now

Your pathway

Games

Your Pathway

Games

Dive into the dynamic world of game art, development, and technology with Access Creative College’s cutting-edge courses. Our courses offer a comprehensive understanding of the gaming industry, providing insights into various roles and their specific requirements. Using industry-standard software, including Unreal Engine, 3ds Max, and OBS, you’ll gain hands-on experience to shape the next blockbuster game.

At Access Creative College, we foster a professional mindset and instil transferable skills that are crucial across related industries. The Games Lab, equipped by Overclockers, serves as your creative playground, empowering you to apply your knowledge in a real-world setting. Collaborate with like-minded peers aspiring to carve a niche in the games art, development, and tech sector.

With a focus on critical thinking and skill development, our specialist teaching staff guide you through a highly creative media environment. The UK gaming market, valued at £7.82 billion annually, is the world’s fifth-largest. The industry’s constant innovation offers vast possibilities, and Access is your gateway to a thrilling future in creating art for games.

Discover where your Games course can take you.

Careers in Games

Dive into the dynamic world of game art, development, and technology with Access Creative College’s cutting-edge courses. Our courses offer a comprehensive understanding of the gaming industry, providing insights into various roles and their specific requirements. Using industry-standard software, including Unreal Engine, 3ds Max, and OBS, you’ll gain hands-on experience to shape the next blockbuster game.

At Access Creative College, we foster a professional mindset and instil transferable skills that are crucial across related industries. The Games Lab, equipped by Overclockers, serves as your creative playground, empowering you to apply your knowledge in a real-world setting. Collaborate with like-minded peers aspiring to carve a niche in the games art, development, and tech sector.

With a focus on critical thinking and skill development, our specialist teaching staff guide you through a highly creative media environment. The UK gaming market, valued at £7.82 billion annually, is the world’s fifth-largest. The industry’s constant innovation offers vast possibilities, and Access is your gateway to a thrilling future in creating art for games.

Discover where your Games course can take you.

Careers in Games

Alumni

Over the last 30 years, ACC has had lots of incredible talent walk through our doors. Check out a small selection here.

Kaine Simpkins

Kaine Simpkins really hit the ground running after studying with us in Bristol back in 2020. He’s released his own indie game on Steam, ‘Meteorites 3D’, he’s using the transferable skills learned at Access to Work as a freelance video editor for Pyrocynical, and he’s getting busy creating content on YouTube. We’re really looking forward to seeing more of Kaine in the future.

Alex Lawrence

Alex studied Games Art at Access Bristol from 2019 to 2021. His work on the course was always completed to an exceedingly high, professional standard; something that was clearly recognised when he graduated from Access and went straight into working with Catastrophic Overload on the Tower Defense game ‘Bish Bash Bots’. Alex is definitely one to watch.

Aysheq Hussain

Ashyeq studied on one of our gaming courses between 2020 and 2022. As well as excelling in his course and achieving a top grade, Ashyeq was also a student ambassador for us.

Before arriving at Access Creative, Aysheq won a BAFTA Young Games Designer award for his game concept Imagibots - Save Eden Green. Aysheq further developed the game from his award-winning concept during his time at Access, and won the Access national ‘Best Game’ award at the end of his second year in 2022. The final game was also a finalist in the Games Making category at Bafta in 2021. While studying with us, Aysheq also developed a second game, Backyard Racing, and released this alongside Imagibots through his own studio, Playtime Games. Ashyek was once again a BAFTA finalist for the Games Design category in 2022 with Backyard Racing.

Simon Knop

My name's Simon, and I'm a Games Art Tutor at Access Creative College, having previously completed the Games Technology (now Games Development) course at Access. I specialise in 3D modelling, sculpting and texturing as well as environment art for games, and I have a particular affinity for stylised game art. I'm currently studying an MA in Games Art at Manchester Metropolitan University, and I'm also the 3D Art Lead at SlingShot Studio.

Rob Adomaityte

Hey there! My name’s Rob, I studied Games Art at Access Creative College, and I’m now a Games Art tutor at the college, whilst also currently studying in my second year of BA Games Art at Leeds Beckett University. Creation is in my blood, so I put everything I have into my 2D art, ranging from characters to splash screens. For the past 2 years, I’ve been working as a 2D art director at Slingshot’s Studio, creating games with my current teammates.

Rhiannon Chamberlain

Rhiannon, a passionate 3D environment artist who loves to play games and make art, and wants to pursue a career in the games industry. She is currently studying at the University of Staffordshire, and she is one to watch!
The A List

Student Work

Cycles by Minh Nguyen (Games)
Mountain creature 2D Concept Art by Monika (Games)
Environment by Ed Effects (Games)
Tardis by Ed Effects (Games)
Concept art by Josh Emmerson (Games)
Rat walking on platform (Games)
Asteroid city Skittles (Games)
Lindt chocolate bars (Games)
Walking through the wilderness (Games)
Running away from city (Games)
Skulls growing mushrooms (Games)
New Haribo Product (Games)
Tails animation (Games)
Five Nights at Freddy's Skittles Bar (Games)
Lydia in demon form (Games)
Frazer and Luis (Games)
Walking arrow (Games)
Person walking in the suburbs (Games)
Man walking on desert planet (Games)
Men in Black Nutrition Info (Games)
New Haribo Look (Games)
Lincoln Concept Art (Games)
Lincoln Comic Book Art (Games)
Lincoln Self Portrait Comic Book Style (Games)
Lincoln Wireframe work (Games)
Lincoln Animation (Games)
Millie Hall (Games)
Joe Campbell Banton (Games)
Kaleb Bray (Games)
Delan Pointon (Games)
Alex Lee (Games)
Orin The Red - Ella Price Uden (Games)
Dead City - Ella Price Uden (Games)
Piotr Schmidt (Games)

Get yourself prepared

useful links

Here you’ll discover resources to help you prepare for your upcoming course and beyond!

Free Pixel Art Making Software:

Industry Standard Pixel Art Drawing Software:

ART – Free Online Digital Drawing Tool:

Free Game Making Software:

Free 3D Modelling Software:

Get yourself prepared

Useful Links 

Here you’ll discover resources to help you prepare for your upcoming course and beyond!

Free Pixel Art Making Software:

Industry Standard Pixel Art Drawing Software:

ART – Free Online Digital Drawing Tool:

Free Game Making Software:

Free 3D Modelling Software:

Featured Article

Is the gaming industry bigger than films and music?

Read now

Careers in Games

Games Art

Animator

Animators take the objects created by 2D and 3D artists and bring them to life by making them move. Working from the designer’s storyboard, an animator creates the movements for characters and vehicles. They bring personality and add emotion and realism to the game.

Character Artist

Character Artists create and draw the visual elements of a game, including characters, environments, vehicles, weapons, and other props or items. You could also be working on films, creating characters, scenery, or props.

Environment Artist

The key responsibilities of an Environment Artist comprise of constructing various aspects of the gaming environment, like terrains, valleys, scenery, props, and models in 2D and 3D.

Texture Artist

A Texture Artist’s job is to paint surface textures on animated characters, environments, and props.

Technical Artist

Technical Artists make it a lot easier for animation to happen. Many technical challenges are faced when creating animation for games. Movements can be complex and can slow the gameplay down, or can take so long to create that the game becomes too expensive to produce.

Visual Effects Artist

VFX Artists add the touches that bring another level of realism to the game. They create anything that moves that isn’t a feature character or an object. For example, they may create dust, water, explosions and superpowers.

Games Designer

Game Designers’ duties are often things like designing characters, levels, puzzles, art and animation. They may also write code, using various computer programming languages.

Games Developer

Video Game Developers write code for games for a variety of formats, such as PCs, consoles, web browsers and mobile phones. Taking a designer's concepts, they build code into a playable game for users.

Games Tester

A Game Tester’s main responsibility is to ensure the quality assurance of a product by playing the game in as many ways as possible.

Games Writer

A Video Game Writer creates the storyline and character backstories for video games. Their work is integral to the overall game design process and accompanies graphics, gameplay and other virtual elements.

Audio Engineer

An Audio Engineer helps to produce a recording, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalisation, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, and reinforcement of sound.

Games Programmer

Gameplay Programmers are the ones who write the code for the interactions that make a game enjoyable. While the lead designers decide on the overall gameplay experience, programmers are the ones who make it happen.

VR Programmer

VR Programmers write the code for cutting-edge game development. VR games are where a player uses a headset or goggles and has the sensation of actually stepping into another world, often gaining a deeper sense of immersion than in regular video games.

Rendering Engineer

A Rendering Engineer is involved in architectural design and implementation of rendering technology on multiple platforms.

Games Teacher/Tutor

Tutors are responsible for helping students to understand different subjects. They assess, assist and encourage the students throughout the learning process.

VR Studio Manager

The Studio Manager is responsible for setting up client accounts, invoicing clients for their time and tracking the invoices to make sure they are paid in full.

Games Blogger/Vlogger

Bloggers and Vloggers write, edit, post, and promote the content on their webpages or websites. They generate and pitch ideas, compose and edit posts, market posts to readers, and conduct research.

Games Studio Finance

Financial Managers within a game studio advise clients on appropriate business planning and help in decision-making processes to ensure that businesses are financially successful.

Games Retail

A Retail Sales Associate is responsible for all sales activities and sales associate job duties. This includes greeting customers, answering questions, offering assistance, suggesting items, lending opinions and providing product information.

Social Media

Social Media Specialists spend their days planning and executing social media strategies, creating and publishing content to a variety of platforms, and interacting with their communities and audiences. A social media specialist also needs to measure results by tracking metrics and insights on each platform.

Games Influencer

Gaming Influencers are online content creators operating primarily on the major social video platforms, such as YouTube or Twitch. Their output in the video games field has earned them a significantly sized and loyal audience.

Graphic Designer

Graphic Design is all about the ‘visual brand’ of a product or company; that is, what people think of when they think about a certain game or studio.

Videographer

Videographers spend their time filming productions using associated production equipment. During post-production, they will edit the film and raw footage using video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro.