How to make video games a profession

The video game sector in Catalonia has consolidated thanks to a firm commitment to talent. The industry, recognized worldwide, counts on creative professionals who have a fundamental weight in the entire value chain, from creation to development, including the publishing and distribution of video games. The Catalan video game industry is characterized by constant growth and specialized educational centers such as the Center for Image and Multimedia Technology of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (CITM-UPC) are a reference.

The CITM-UPC is the only center in the State that offers three complementary degrees specialized in the creative digital industries. To the degree in Video Game Design and Development –in dual modality: Catalan, Spanish and English in Terrassa; and 100% in English in Barcelona–, are added the degree in Design, Animation and Digital Art and the degree in Digital Design and Multimedia Technologies.

The CITM is a teaching center affiliated with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia - BarcelonaTech (UPC), a benchmark technological and scientific university, which has a consolidated community of alumni, expert in programming, game design, technical art and 3D, animation, production or project management.

Design, technology and art

The degree trains profiles capable of understanding the complete process of creating a video game and combines programming, game design, narrative, digital art, 2D and 3D, animation, UX/UI, audio and production.

With a project-based work methodology, the CITM prepares students by reproducing the dynamics typical of professional industry teams. This learning reinforces the talent of future specialists. Throughout their studies, students develop individual and collective projects, also in interdisciplinary teams formed by students from different degrees, which integrate profiles in programming, art, animation, UX/UI, multimedia, or technology, which allows for the progressive construction of a project portfolio throughout the degree.

Furthermore, the CITM has its own pre-incubator at the Centre, which offers support so that some projects can evolve into entrepreneurial initiatives.

Success studies

The video game ecosystem in Barcelona and Catalonia is consolidating year after year, also from the educational sector, with a thousand students in our country. According to official figures, the global video game sector registered a record of €40,801 million in investment, with 525 projects that generated more than 8,856 jobs in the 2019-2023 five-year period. This attraction of investment not only highlights the confidence of investors in the Catalan video game development ecosystem, but also its capacity to generate and retain talent.

The availability of qualified talent and competitive operating costs in the European context make Catalonia an attractive territory for video game development companies and favor the growth of a solid and innovative ecosystem.

In this context, good job prospects are also one of the attractions of these studies. In the case of the CITM, the job placement rate stands at 85.5%, and students who have completed video game studies at the center find work within a year of finishing them.

Connection with the industry

The degree maintains a close relationship with companies, studios, and professionals in the sector through projects, activities, internships, and direct contact with professional reality. The CITM teaching staff is made up of prestigious professors in the academic world, and also largely of active professionals from the digital arts, multimedia production, and video game industries. Students can do company internships starting in their third year, an experience that facilitates direct contact with the industry and becomes a gateway to the professional world.

The differential value of the CITM goes beyond university education: students work in multidisciplinary teams, develop applied projects, and come into contact with companies and professionals in the sector. Through the Advanced Company Project (PAE) course, they face challenges in real contexts, such as a virtual reality experience developed with the Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa (CST) and the TRS Film Lab, the gamification of the 3Cat platform or the CUPRA Gamified Car project. Thus, students put the acquired knowledge into practice and prepare for the professional world.

Video game research

The CITM does not limit video games to entertainment. It develops projects that explore the applications of interactive and immersive technologies in fields such as health, education, or communication, and has its own research activity through the Center's own research group DiCode. It also participates in the generation of knowledge about the sector, such as the study on the indie video game ecosystem in Catalonia coordinated from the CITM.

The CITM has been organizing for 3 editions the Indie Games Terrassa (Indie Games TRS), the annual reference meeting for the indie community. In parallel, it collaborates on community, diversity, and gender perspective initiatives, such as Gaming en Femení, which gives visibility to female talent and promotes debate on the social and educational challenges linked to video games.