Good Bachelor's Degrees for Production?

the_grimace · 07-21-2009, 07:43 PM

What are some good degrees for someone interested in a producer position within the games industry?

Would a B.S. in Business - Management be any good. Im considering switching into that major to finish so i can stay at my local state university campus (my local campus only has a handful of B.S/B.A's)

yaustar · 07-22-2009, 01:10 AM

Good question. Business/Management/Marketing sounds right but I am not 100% sure. On page 58, there are top 10 tips that might help: http://gamedeveloper.texterity.com/g...08careerguide/

Dreamscape · 07-23-2009, 08:41 AM

Im also looking into a production career in the long run (as im just starting school in september) and ive done nothing but research for the last 8 months on computer science programs (i enjoy the thought of being able to program but since i havent done any yet i may find im not good at it) and also game production tracks at traditional universities.

Thus far Full Sail seems to have a master's in managment of which ive heard good things but that school isnt for me.

FIEA is a graduate program with 3 tracks one being Production and seems to be what im looking for,BUT--

Depaul University in chicago has a BS in game development with a concentration in programming,art and production/design and looking over their classes it is alot of business in games etc..this will be my top choice transfer school as they have a great selection of game developers in residence including Alex Seropian (creator of Halo and founder of Bungie Games and Wideload Games),Also Bill Muehl who has something like 20 years in game production.

Whew i sound like a raging fanboy,but in all honesty ive researched over 40 different programs here in the US and those 3 seem to hold true for production.
Im sure any school you go to for a business/managment degree will be useful in the games industry.

I wish Digipen would institute a production track,that was my number 1 pick,but its a very expensive endeavor if i find im no good at programming.

Sorry for the long windedness

also game career guide has released the 2009 version

http://gamedeveloper.texterity.com/g...oper/2009fall/

look for tips on page 40

the_grimace · 07-23-2009, 03:56 PM

well. it seems like for something more general like production (as game production isnt terribly different then any other production - same with programming, art, etc) a traditional 4 year degree would seem better. Those game design schools REALLY do give a vocational take on actually working on games, really preparing you for a career in the game industry, but on the same page, they restrict you to a video game career only.

I feel a traditional 4 year degree can be used more widely then an exclusive degree from a game design school.

yaustar · 07-24-2009, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_grimace

I feel a traditional 4 year degree can be used more widely then an exclusive degree from a game design school.

Definitely, do not do a games design course, especially if you want to go into production.

Claxon · 07-24-2009, 06:13 AM

Production is interesting in that the "Jack of all trades" courses that we usually discourage people from taking, are actually well suited to future producers. They give you experience with all the different aspects of game development. Granted it is not terribly in-depth experience, but enough to give you an idea of what is required of each member of the team, and how much time and effort will be required for certain features. It also means that you can talk to the team and have some idea of what they're each talking about.