BA (Hons) Game Art and Animation

What you will study

Year 1 (Level 4)

Modules

Game Design and Interaction (Core): Your first opportunity to create the full visual identity for a 2D game in a cross‑disciplinary team. You’ll focus on concept art, character and environment design, 2D animation, whilst collaborating with designers and programmers to produce a small playable product that demonstrates early production literacy.

Game Asset Production (Core): Create 3D game assets while learning the fundamentals of asset production workflows. You’ll build an asset pack, explore materials and textures, and integrate your work into a game engine to understand how 3D models support level design and environment work.

Character Design and Digital Sculpting (Core): You'll learn how to design and sculpt compelling characters for games. Starting from silhouette and concept art, you will explore anatomy, form and detail through digital sculpting workflows, producing high‑resolution character models that develop your artistic fundamentals and prepare you for later production‑focused modules.

Game Industry and Agile Production (Core): Explore the contemporary games industry, its roles, workflows and production pipelines. You’ll learn the fundamentals of agile development, sprint planning and iterative practice, and examine how production decisions shape game projects.

Game Environments and Narrative Design (Core): Learn Unreal Engine 5 through environment creation, worldbuilding and real time production workflows. You’ll design a small environment, apply narrative ideas, and cut your work into a short game trailer to showcase atmosphere and storytelling.

Design and Motion (Core): You will explore how visual design and motion work together to communicate ideas in games. You’ll develop skills in concept art, 2D and 3D design, composition and core artistic fundamentals, creating assets such as UI & UX work, branding and other elements that define a game’s visual identity.

Year 2 (Level 5)

Modules

Asset Production for Game Engines (Core): Build directly on previous asset work to introduce more advanced workflows, optimisation and engine‑focused production. You’ll create coherent game assets, refine topology and materials, and integrate everything into Unreal Engine 5, learning how to prepare content that runs efficiently in real‑time game projects.

Character Production for Game Engines (Core): You will learn how to prepare your produced characters for use in a real‑time engine. You’ll focus on retopology, UVs, baking and texturing, creating clean, efficient meshes that preserve your artistic intent. You then bring your character into Unreal Engine 5, exploring how materials, lighting and presentation shape the final in‑engine look. This module deepens your specialism in character art and builds the technical confidence needed for advanced character production.

Character Rigging and Animation (Core): You will bring your characters to life through rigging and animation. You’ll build functional rigs, explore how anatomy drives movement, and create expressive animation cycles that communicate personality and emotion. This module develops your artistic eye for motion and prepares you for advanced character work in Level 6.

Real Time Environment Production (Core): Develop real‑time environment art with a focus on lighting, materials, VFX and performance. You’ll create a visually rich UE5 environment using professional workflows and real‑time rendering techniques.

Indie Game Project (Core): You will work as part of a small indie team to design, build and deliver a playable game slice using Unreal Engine 5. This cross‑disciplinary project centres your art and animation skills, challenging you to create characters, environments and visual assets under realistic production constraints. You’ll prototype ideas, iterate based on feedback, and prepare your vertical slice for a public game expo, where you showcase your work to players, staff and industry guests.

Indie Studio Production (Core): You will plan and deliver the full agile production strategy that drives your team project. You’ll manage sprints, track progress, analyse development data and maintain studio‑ready documentation that reflects real‑world workflows. This module will help you to understand how indie studios operate day‑to‑day, giving you hands‑on experience with production tools, communication pipelines and the organisational skills needed for professional game production.

Year 3 Level 6

Modules

Advanced Character Production and Animation (Core): You will advance your character art and animation practice by producing a fully realised real‑time character. Building on your Level 5 pipeline skills, you'll refine high‑resolution sculpts, create efficient production meshes, develop more complex rigs and craft expressive animation sets that communicate personality and intent. You then bring your character into Unreal Engine 5, using materials, lighting, motion and presentation to achieve a polished, industry‑aligned final result. This module deepens your specialist craft and prepares you for professional character‑focused roles in the UK games industry.

Games Industry Specialist (Core): Choose and investigate a specialist area of the contemporary games industry, producing analysis and practical outputs that directly relate to future job prospects. You’ll explore emerging technologies, workflows or roles and develop specialist knowledge relevant to your career goals. As part of this module, you will take part in a formal application, interview and panel simulation to practice for future career opportunities.

Games User Research (Core): Explore user research methods used in game production, including playtesting, observation, data analysis and reporting. You’ll design and run user studies to evaluate aesthetics, artistic tone and player experience, producing industry‑aligned research outputs.

Games Studio Project (Core): Work as part of a year‑long, enterprising game studio project where you design, build and deliver a substantial game on a platform of your choice. As an art and animation specialist, you'll shape the visual identity of the project through characters, environments, motion and presentation. You will operate like a professional development team by planning sprints, managing pipelines, responding to production constraints and delivering high‑quality content to deadlines. The project also prepares you for real funding opportunities by helping you develop pitch materials, production roadmaps and a portfolio aligned with indie‑studio expectations. This module mirrors real industry environments and supports your transition into the UK games industry.

The information listed in this section is an overview of the academic content of the programme that will take the form of either core or option modules. Modules are designated as core or option in accordance with professional body requirements and internal academic framework review, so may be subject to change.

Entry requirements & applying

UCAS Tariff: 96 – 112

Types and subjects of qualifications from a range of backgrounds will be taken into consideration, as many subjects remain relevant.

Life experience and a demonstrable portfolio will also be taken into consideration if students do not meet tariff range. This is expected to be a significant factor with students applying for Foundation Year study.

Teaching & Assessment

You will be taught through a blend of design sessions, technical workshops, production meetings and studio time that reflect modern game art and animation practice. Early modules use structured demonstrations, lectures and guided exercises to build core artistic and technical skills, while later modules shift towards collaborative, production‑driven workflows where you plan sprints, present work‑in‑progress and respond to feedback like a professional art team.

Your weekly workload typically includes a mix of scheduled teaching, independent study, project development and team collaboration. As you progress through the degree, teaching becomes more autonomous and studio‑focused, with staff acting as facilitators and mentors who support your artistic, technical and professional development.

Assessment

Assessment is entirely coursework‑based and designed to build your professional art and animation portfolio. You’ll produce playable prototypes, 3D character assets, animation sets, character and environment assets and product documentation that reflect real industry outputs. Some modules assess your ability to work in teams, manage production pipelines or deliver work to agreed milestones, while others focus on specialist skills such as character art, environment art, animation or motion design.

Across the programme, assessment emphasises creativity, technical competence, design-based problem‑solving and communication.

Most importantly, every major piece of work contributes directly to a professional portfolio you can take into the UK games industry.

Career prospects

Our dedicated Careers and Employability team is committed to helping you achieve your professional goals. They provide personalised advice, useful resources, and extracurricular employability events to prepare you for the job market.

Graduates of this course can pursue careers in: 

• 3D Character Artist
• Environment Artist
• Character Animator
• Technical Animator
• Prop and Hard Surface Artist
• Technical Artist
• Concept Artist
• Game Designer
• Indie Game Artist
• UI and UX Designer

Additionally, you may choose to further your expertise through postgraduate studies. Explore our postgraduate courses for more information.

Fees & funding

You do not have to pay your tuition fees upfront.

The fees you pay and the support available will depend on a number of different factors. Full information can be found on our fees & finance pages. You will also find information about what your fees include in the fee FAQs.

All fees are subject to any changes in government policy, view our undergraduate fees.

Accommodation

At Wrexham University, we offer on-campus en-suite rooms within our Wrexham Student Village. These private, fully furnished spaces are conveniently located, providing easy access to campus facilities, study areas, and social spaces. Plus, you’re just a 10-minute walk from the city centre!

With all bills included, free Wi-Fi, 24/7 security, and large social areas, you’ll find everything you need for a great student experience.

Explore our student accommodation options to find your perfect home away from home.