Game Development and Interactive Media

General information

The Game Development and Interactive Media program is designed to provide students with a wide range of game design development and interactive media expertise. Students are immersed in the game development process from day one and develop complete video games beginning in their first year. Successful students develop their knowledge and skills in a diverse team environment and learn to work effectively with programmers, artists, and designers to create innovative products that push the medium to its limits. Each semester, students participate in the Game Development Workshop (GDW) that integrates knowledge in all disciplines in a back-to-back semester-long team project to design/develop/extend/polish an interactive game. Students work in multidisciplinary teams to apply their specific discipline developing and delivering a game at the end of each year. Students gain further experiential experience through the FBIT Experiential Options available (e.g., Capstone, Internship, Venture Creation, etc.). Please see the Game Development and Interactive Media Handbook available on the Faculty of Business and IT website for more details on these and other program-related options.

Our state-of-the-art Game Development lab features state-of-the-art and emerging technologies allowing students to explore new and exciting ideas in their projects. The lab contains exciting technologies such as Virtual Reality headsets, 3D scanners, Volumetric/Motion capture facilities, an audiometric sound recording booth, and the latest in interaction devices to provide students with real-world experience using technologies that they would not have access to otherwise.

Students have opportunities to acquire business and management knowledge and develop entrepreneurial skills through the core and elective business courses, allowing graduates to quickly advance their careers in the game industry as employees or entrepreneurs in charge of developing and managing their own gaming businesses.

Throughout years two to four of the program, students can choose to focus on the disciplines that interest them the most and gain valuable depth of knowledge in development disciplines such as (but not limited to) Game Programming, Game Design, Technical Art, Serious Games and Simulations, and Game User Research.

Admission requirements

Admission is competitive. The specific average or standing required for admission varies from year to year. Students are selected by taking into consideration a wide range of criteria including school marks, distribution of subjects taken, and performance in subjects relevant to the academic program. Possession of the minimum requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Preference will be given to applicants with the best qualifications.

Current Ontario secondary school students must complete the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) with six 4U or 4M credits including English (ENG4U) with a recommended minimum average of 60 per cent and one of Advanced Functions (MHF4U) or Calculus and Vectors (MCV4U) or Mathematics of Data Management (MDM4U) with a recommended minimum average of 60 per cent or Computer Science (ICS4U) with a recommended average of 70 per cent. All other applicants should refer to admissions for the requirements for their specific category of admission.

Internship program

Internship provides the students with the opportunity to obtain paid on-the-job experience with businesses locally and globally. FBIT students apply classroom concepts in a real-world environment and gain valuable and relevant work experience to promote networking and life-long career success. They will also bring their work experience back to the classroom and enrich the learning environment for themselves and their classmates.

Participating employers are given the opportunity to bring the motivated learners, thinkers, and doers of tomorrow into their workplaces, as well as provide valuable mentoring to interns.
Ontario Tech University has a detailed policy document for Internships, Co-ops and Practicum opportunities. Students should review this document (link) before considering and starting an internship at FBIT.

The University policy framework sets the minimum requirements and in addition to these points, FBIT has the following important requirements for its internship program.
FBIT internship requirements:

Internships are at least 4 months of full-time work (usually 480 hours or more) and maximum of 4 semesters or 16 months.
Internships are paid work placements. The intern’s wages (stipulated in a contract) are paid by the sponsoring business over the internship.
Students participating in an internship program may enroll in one course (3 credits) per semester. This course must not interfere with the internship schedule outlined by the employer and students may be asked to provide written confirmation from the employer confirming a lack of conflict.
Students may secure their own internship opportunity with an employer. However, the FBIT Experiential Learning office must approve the opportunity before anything is finalized and the work term is initiated.
Successful internship completion and a satisfactory verbal and/or written reports throughout the semester will result in the intern receiving a letter grade and three credit hours (XBIT4600) toward their undergraduate degree requirements.
Students may do a second internship while in the program and the second internship opportunity will count as an elective course (XBIT4610).
Undergraduate students must return for one semester of full-time studies after their internship before graduation (internship cannot be their final semester).
Students in the Co-op program are not eligible for internships.

Note: For international internships, the students must coordinate closely with the Experiential Learning office at FBIT before finalizing any details.

FBIT requirements for acceptance into internship (above and beyond University requirements):

Completion of 54 credit hours (Third year standing) with at least a 2.3 cGPA and the following additional program specific course requirements:
BCom all majors EXCEPT Technology Management: at least 30 credit hours of BUSI courses
BCom Technology Management major: at least 30 credit hours of BUSI and INFR courses
BIT Technology Management: at least 30 credit hours of BUSI and INFR courses
BIT Game Development and Interactive Media: at least 30 credit hours of INFR courses
BIT Networking and IT Security: at least 30 credit hours of INFR courses
Clear academic standing
Academic Misconduct: Students who have a major academic misconduct on file (i.e. sanctions imposed by the Dean and/or Academic Integrity Committee) are not eligible for Internship. Students with a major academic misconduct can apply for a waiver after one (1) year of the misconduct decision date. Decision for eligibility will be made by the Dean or Dean’s designate.

The University and Faculty provide numerous resources for students to find internships and succeed in their work placements. However, internship placements are competitive and not guaranteed.
Students are encouraged to review the information on the Faculty of Business and IT website (link) for the most up to date information regarding our experiential learning programs including Internship.

Program details and degree requirements

To be eligible for the honours Bachelor of Information Technology degree with a major in Game Development and Interactive Media, students must successfully complete 120 credit hours, including all courses outlined in the following program map.

Although reasonable efforts will be made to adhere to the following program map, course requirements and term offerings may change. For the most up-to-date list of course offerings, please visit the faculty website at businessandit.ontariotechu.ca.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Additional requirements

Additionally, students must complete the following to complete their degree:

Electives (60 credits)

12 GAME electives
- Students must select a minimum of 12 courses of GAME electives as defined in the Game Development and Interactive Media Program Handbook subject to scheduling and credit restrictions.
3 general electives
- Students must select a minimum of three non-INFR, non-computer science related courses from any faculty, subject to scheduling and credit restrictions.
3 open electives
- Students must select a minimum of three courses from any faculty as open electives, subject to scheduling and credit restrictions.
2 BUSI electives
- Students must select a minimum of two BUSI courses, subject to scheduling and credit restrictions.

Experiential credit (3 credits)

Choose one of: Internship, Capstone, Venture Creation, or Directed Studies (Research Project)

Electives

General elective

Students must select a minimum of three non-INFR, non-computer science related courses from any faculty, subject to credit restrictions.

Open elective

Students may enrol in any courses from any faculty as open electives, subject to credit restrictions. These courses may be either non-INFR/non-computer science courses or may include INFR/computer science courses.

GAME elective

Please see the Game Development and Interactive Media Program Handbook for help with choosing GAME electives.

BUSI elective

Students must select a minimum of two BUSI courses from the Faculty of Business and IT, subject to credit restrictions.