Games of the Future with James Shepherd - Available until 05.10.

'Games of the Future: What are the key games in development and due to be released in the next 12 months?'. In this talk we will be previewing all the major games on the horizon. What will we be playing over the course of 2026?  Get yourself full up to speed with the state of the industry in this fun and inclusive talk.  Students will leave with a sense of the future direction of the games industry for both hardware and software.

Course•By James Shepherd

IVGC: Bonus materials

IVGC+

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds, James Shepherd, Matthew Dickson

M1 | Introduction to Development Tools

Welcome to Module 1! This is the beginning of the first practical lectures in the course: we will introduce the development tools you will use during the next modules, such as Unity, Krita, Blender and Visual Studio. You will learn how to configure each of these softwares, how to properly work with them, and how to optimise your workflow in a game development process!

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds, James Shepherd, Matthew Dickson

M10 | History of Games

IVGC Free

Course•By James Shepherd

M11 | Game Experience Analysis - My Favourite Game

IVGC Free

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M12 | Innovation in Games

IVGC Free

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M12: Innovation in Games Workshop (Available until 10.08.)

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M13 | The Games Industry and Data Analytics

IVGC Free

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M13: The Games Industry and Data Analytics (Available until 17.08.)

Do you want to navigate the pitfalls of the games industry? This study session is a great chance to review the newly updated content in the Industry and Data Analytics module with Jan and James. During the presentation, you will have the opportunity to complete the quiz easily and receive your credit.

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds, James Shepherd, Matthew Dickson

M14 | Analysis of the Game I Play Now

IVGC Free

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M15 | Ideation and Value Creation in Games

IVGC+

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

M16 | Artificial Intelligence for Games

IVGC+

Course•By James Shepherd

M17 | Video Games Production

IVGC Free

Course•By James Shepherd

M18 | Game Concept Design

Included in IVGC Free and IVGC+ Membership Tiers

Course•By James Shepherd

M19 | Generative AI, Deeptech and Cryptos

IVGC Single

Course•By John Harper, Dr. Jeremy Sosabowski, Jim McDougall

M2 | “The Return”, Text Adventure Game

Included in IVGC+ Membership Tier

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M20 | Introduction to Academic Essays

IVGC Single

Course•By Pallav Sethiya

M21 | Vision - NEW

Course•By James Shepherd

M22 | Teams: Roles and Opportunities in Games Development - NEW

Course•By James Shepherd

M23 | Winning Investment - Aimee Freeding - NEW

In this module we will look at the key actions required to win investment for any project you might wish to undertake. The tutor will be Aimee Freeding from the investment firm First Sentinel.

Course•By Aimee Freeding

M24 | Production Management - Deepa Karanth

In this module Deepa Karanth, Project Manager at Britbox, will look at keep principles and practices within the discipline of Project Management.

Course•By James Shepherd

M25 | Building a Game Brand - Alex Noon

In this module Alex Noon, Creative Director at NEVERDARK Studios, and ex head of the Arrekz Gaming channel, will look at the key actions required to build a brand for yourself, your game or your company.

Course•By James Shepherd

M3 | "Merlin's Demon War", Card Combat Game

Included in IVGC+ Membership Tier

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M30 | Origins of Play and Games - NEW

Course•By James Shepherd

M31 | Narrative in Games - NEW

Course•By James Shepherd

M32 | Gameplay, Game Mechanics and Game Features - NEW

Course•By James Shepherd

M35 | Principles of Design - NEW

IVGC+

Course•By Micol Galeotti

M4 | Pixel Art 2D

Included in IVGC+ Membership Tier

Course•By James Shepherd

M5 | Mobile Snake Game

Included in IVGC+ Membership Tier

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M6 | Space Shooter

Included in IVGC+ Membership Tier

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M7 | Introduction to Unreal Engine 5, Part 1

IVGC+

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M8 | Introduction to Unreal Engine 5, Part 2

IVGC+

Course•By ​Matthew Dickson

M9 | Sound Design for Videogames

IVGC+

Course•By Niccolò Pagnacco

Module 10: History of Games Workshop (available until 03.08.)

To design the future, you have to understand the past. This session looks at the History of Games in a journey from the very first interactive games to the present day. It is essential content for all students of game creation.

Course•By James Shepherd

Module 17: Production for Games Workshop - Available until 27.07.

In this interactive workshop session, James Shepherd, your instructor at IVGC, guided students through the updated M17 presentation. During the session, participants had the opportunity to complete the quiz together and earn credit with ease. The session also offered additional insights beyond the standard M17 module content. Production is an essential phase in developing a successful video game, and the role of producer is one of the most complex and exciting in the industry. In the end, making a good quality product is mostly a matter of taking the right decisions. In this module we will go through the basics of this process by learning about the project life-cycles, what the main roles are, and how risks are managed throughout all the development stages!

Course•By James Shepherd

Module15: Ideation and Value Creation in Games Workshop (Available until 21.09)

We all know that games are mostly made to be sold, and we love buying them. But what we spend isn’t just money: players are always glad to invest enormous amounts of resources such as time, commitment and focus, often thinking that “it’s worth it”. But where does a game’s true value come from? How much are ideas really “worth”? This module explores the different aspects of ideation and value creation processes. You will increase your understanding of development studios as organisations and learn how new knowledge is used in developing better and better products. You will gain an insight into the studios’ daily lives and their concerns about making decisions on where to invest resources. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

What is IVGC? Learn more about the course's history and what the future will bring with Dr. Jan Storgårds

Get the latest updates on upcoming content and learn how IVGC evolved into what it is today.

Course•By Dr. Jan Storgårds

Who are the Players? 50 Play Personas in the Gaming World in 2025 - Available until 21.09.

Games is one of the largest entertainment artforms in the world, but who are the players? How have they evolved over time? And what do they want from a game? In this talk we will look at the myriad of different player types, what drives them and what they look for within a game. We will answer the question: how can you surprise and delight them? From this presentation students will leave with a good understanding of the player gaming landscape and how they can make an experience that appeals to them.

Course•By James Shepherd