Britain's Games Industry Needs More Mathematicians

July 14, 2008

The game may be up for Britain's games industry unless the nation's universities can produce more of the right kinds of mathematicians and computer scientists.

British games developers face a "serious decline in the quality of graduates looking to enter the industry," David Braben of Frontier Developments told BBC News. "The dearth of maths, physics, and computer science graduates is hitting us hard."

Moreover, "95% of video gaming degrees are simply not fit for purpose," he added. "Without some sort of common standard, . . . these degrees are a waste of time for all concerned."

Several factors may account for the apparent shortfall. Only four institutions in Britain are accredited to offer the right kinds of courses that lead to a career in the games industry. At the same time, students at the handful of accredited schools tend to avoid the demanding courses that produce useful skills for programming games.

At Northumbria University, an institution that offers a course in Computer Games Engineering, staff say that prospective students are often put off by the rigorous math requirement for getting into the program. "We consistently tell them that this is one of the hardest courses we offer at this university," course leader Dan Hodgson said. "It's certainly not for the sort of people who want to laze around and play games for three years."

Games industry leaders argue that the British government has failed to support the industry adequately. They claim that thousands of jobs are moving to Canada, where government support has allowed the industry to flourish. Britain has been one of the leading nations for games development but slipped from third to fourth position, behind Canada, in 2006.

Source: BBC News, June 18, 2008.