EUROPE

TOP 5 video game schools

2022 TOP 5 VIDEO GAME SCHOOL and top 10 Studios IN europe

TOP 5 EUROPEAN video GAME SCHOOLS

schools with the best job placement results in the video game industry since 2016



TOP 10 EUROPEAN VIDEO GAME STUDIOS

studios that have recruited the most graduates since 2015


☆ game schools top 5 europe


#1 ISART

Paris, France

  • 1,180 students. 600 undergraduate and 580 graduate students. 60% in Bachelor and 58% in Master.

  • Private

  • Tuition & fees (2020-2021): €16,000 (non E.U. residents)

details on World Ranking

#2 BUas - Breda University of Applied Sciences

Breda, Netherlands

  • 7,224 students. 99% pursuing games BS and 3% MS degrees.

  • Government-funded higher education institute.

  • Tuition & Fees (2020-2021): €12,528 (non U.E. residents)

details on World Ranking

#3 abertay university

Dundee, Scotland

  • 4,500 students. In video games: 47% Bachelor's and 57% Master's graduates.

  • Public University

  • 2020 Tuition: £15,500 for international students (non-EU, and non England, Northern Ireland, or Wales)

details on World Ranking

#4 U-tad, University of Technology, Arts and Design

Madrid, Spain

  • 1,300 students

  • Private

  • Tuition & fees: undergrad: €10,600-11,110, grad: €14,000-15,500

U-tad is considered a “pure player” university because of its 29 programs in digital domains, including eight specifically in video games. The university was founded in 2011 by the originator of Ilion, an animation studio, and Pyro Studios, a mobile game studio. It was developed in symbiosis with professionals in the sector who also constitute the majority of teachers and who provide the material resources.

ACADEMICS:

  • BA in Interactive Product Design

  • BS in Computer Science + Minor in Graphic Programming, Immersive Systems and Videogames

  • BFA in Animation + Minor in Game Art

  • MS in Game Development

  • MA in Game Design

  • MFA in Game Art

  • Ciclo Formativo de Grado Superior (CFGS) en Animaciones 3D, Juegos y Entornos Interactivos - Higher Level Training in 3D Animation, Games and Interactive Environments for Spanish Speakers.

  • Summer School

U-tad offers three bachelors and three master’s programs in video games. Out of the U-tad alumni hired in the video game industry since 2016, 39% hold a bachelor’s and 65% hold a master’s degree.


STUDENT PROJECTS:

U-tad students develop successful and visually appealing games that regularly win awards:

A Rising Bond won the 2019 PlayStation Talents Best Narrative Award.

A Rising Bond

Intruders, Hide and Seek won the 2016 Best University Project Award at the Fun & Serious Titanium Festival, the PlayStation Talents Best Game for the Press Award, and PlayStation Talents Best Game of 2016 Award, as well as the Best Pitch in Entertainment, Gaming & Content Award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2017 Festival. It was also hailed winner of the Gamer's Voice Award: Virtual Reality at the SXSW 2019 Festival and the Best Game for the Gamelab Attendees at Gamelab 2019.

Khion I: No Return won the 2018 Best Student Video Game Award at the Fun & Serious Game Festival and was a 2018 PlayStation Talents finalist.

Greyfall, The Endless Dungeon won the 2017 Best Student Video Game at the Fun & Serious Game Festival.

Naamu: The Lost Essence (2020) (An Otter Studio)

RECRUITMENT:

The main video game studios who have hired U-tad graduates since 2016 are:

  • Saber Interactive Spain -14 alumni: 3 game designers, 4 game artists, 6 programmers, 1 producer. Notable games they worked on: Killing Floor 2, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, Evil Dead: The Game.

  • Genera Games - 10 alumni: 9 game designers, 1 game artist. Notable games they worked on: Tuscany Villa, Frozen Free Fall, Maleficent Free Fall, Gladiator Heroes, Bubble Chef, Smurfs Bubble Story.

  • Stage Clear Studios - 10 alumni: 5 game designers, 2 game artists, 3 programmers.

  • Lost Criteria Studios - 9 alumni: 5 game designers, 3 game artists, 1 programmer. Notable game: Blackstorm.

  • Tessera Studios - 9 alumni: 2 game designers, 3 game artists, 3 programmers, 1 producer. Notable game: Intruders: Hide and Seek (VR).

  • Ubisoft (Spain, Bulgaria, and UK) - 7 alumni: 3 game designers, 1 game artist, 2 programmers, 1 producer. Notable games: Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Assassin's Creed VR, Splinter Cell VR, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege.



The U-tad alumni workforce is mainly involved in three tech professions: 46% game designers, 25% programmers and 24% game artists.

Looking at all 91 studios that employ U-tad alumni from 2016 to today, this pattern is much the same: 39% game designers, 28% programmers and 29% game & technical artists.

#5 Rubika

Valenciennes, France

  • 900 students

  • Private

  • Tuition & fees : undergrad: €8,250, grad: €9,500

With origins reaching back to 1988, Rubika was created in 2013 with the merger of the Institut Supérieur de Design, Supinfocom and Supinfogame. Rubika is a "pure player" school. All of its programs train in digital technology and half of them are dedicated to video games and animation.

ACADEMICS:

Rubika offers bachelor’s and master’s degree video game study programs in three domains:

  • Game Art

  • Game Design

  • Game Programming

Out of the Rubika alumni who have entered the video game industry in the last five years, 1/3rd hold a bachelor’s degree and 2/3rds hold a master’s degree.


STUDENT PROJECTS:

Rubika students develop very successful games, often comparable to those produced by professional studios, and are regularly awarded in various competitions such as the GDWC (Game Development World Championship), Ping Awards, Unity Awards and Imagine Cup.

The school has released nearly fifty student game projects since 2016.

Nothing In Sight was lauded as a Finalist at the 2020 Independent Game Festival (IGF) in the Best Student Game category. This narrative management game is set in a Great War trench. The psychological depth of the characters stands out, as well as the graphic qualities and the finesse of the gameplay. The fine and well thought-out design of the interactions make it a subtle and even touching game.

Nothing In Sight


En Garde! won Best Student Game at the 2018 Ping Awards 2018 in Paris. It is a beautifully finished cinematic cloak-and-dagger action game set in a 17th-century Spanish palace.

En Garde!

RECRUITMENT:

The following are the main video game studios that have recruited Rubika alumni since 2016:


  • Ubisoft (France, UK, and India) - 32 graduates: 17 game designers, 7 game artists, 5 programmers, 3 producers. Notable games Rubika graduates worked on: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

  • Virtuos (France) - 4 graduates: 1 tech artist, 3 programmers, 1 producer. Notable games worked on: Avengers, Horizon Zero Dawn.

  • Amplitude Studios - 4 graduates: 2 game designers, 2 game artists. Notable games: Lost Symphony and Untold Tales, Endless Space 2.

  • Sloclap - 4 graduates: 1 game designer, 1 game artist, 1 programmer, 1 producer. Notable game: Sifu.

  • Appeal Studios - 4 graduates: 1 game designer, 3 game artists.


Ubisoft is by far the leading recruiter, with more than 20% of Rubika alumni from these past five years entering the video game industry.

The alumni work in four professions with a clear design orientation: 44% are game designers, 29% are game/tech artists, 17% are programmers and 10% are producers.


On a broader scale, Rubika alumni recruited since 2016 to video game professions by 73 studios present a fairly similar structure, making Rubika the most art-oriented school in this European ranking, with 38% game designer positions, 33% artistic positions (game/tech artists), 21% programming positions and 8% producers.