Learning through games
THE landscape of games development is certainly not new in Malaysia. We have been involved in game development since the early 90’s. Several Malaysian companies were contracted for outsourcing work on various game platforms during that period.
Even now, some of the biggest names in game development are established in the South-east Asian Region Codemasters Studios has a local Malaysian studio, which handles the artwork for some of their biggest titles including Dirt3, Operation Flashpoint and F1 2011.
Streamline Studios, an independent Dutch outsourcing and game developing studio has also set up a studio right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Its work has been featured in several platinum selling hits including, Gears of War, Unreal Tournament and Ghost Recon.
In game development, production values are very high and costs of development are rising partly due to heavy demand, lack of specialised and qualified skilled workers, and the pressure to deliver more within an increasingly shorter amount of time, giving rise to a need for people who are trained and competent in the workflow of game development with very specialised fields of studies.
For those interested in a career in the game development industry, check out KDU University College’s new Bachelor of Game Development programme. It is most suitable for those who are creative and/or artistic, highly technical or have a good grasp of logic together with aspirations in dynamic career options. Game development involves interdisciplinary cooperation of technical disciplines like software engineering and creative disciplines like art and writing.
Under the Bachelor of Game Development, students have the option of three majors- Game Art (Visuals), Game Design (Mechanics) and Game Technology (Programming).
Through this new programme, KDU will be able to develop graduates who are able to respond and adapt readily to emerging and changing trends and technology. The Bachelor of Game Development (Honours) is a three-year programme. Students must select their Discipline Major at the first semester. However, due to the philosophy of the programme, which encourages the integration of all three distinct disciplines to simulate an actual Game Development Production Cycle, students from all three tracks will have common Game Modules along their course of studies as well as the opportunity to work in several development projects together.
The course itself is taught by actual industry practitioners, most of which were the early pioneers in the Malaysian game development scene. Amongst the lecturers is Johaness Reuben, a seasoned industry veteran who worked as a Technical Art Director for one of the first few game development companies in Malaysia; Bazil Akmal, the current Chapter Coordinator for International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Malaysia and a former programmer at John Galt Games; Peter Pan, a veteran in the local games industry with over 10 years of Industry Experience on game titles for the PC, PS2 and Gameboy Advanced (GBA) and Yee I-van, a talented game artist who has worked on many independent game projects and a winner of Msc-malaysia - Intellectual Property Creators Challenge Series 2010.
The KDU Game Development Programme has also invested heavily in an Alienware Lab, functioning as a Game Studio for the students to work on their development projects. The university has also established a Game Console Area where students can play and explore the various console games available in the market as part of their studies into the various platforms and game genres.
The next intake for the KDU’S Bachelor of Game Development will in April.
Established in 1983, KDU University College has been an important landmark in the development of private tertiary education and it aspires to grow in reputation and quality. As a testament of the consumers’ faith in the KDU brand, the university college was awarded Silver for the Education & Learning category in the Putra Brand Awards for two consecutive years. The education institution is also building a new 21.7-acre (52ha) campus in Glenmarie, set to be completed in 2014.
For more details on the programmes and activities happening in KDU University College PJ, call 03-7728 8123 / 03-7953 6688, e-mail best@kdu.edu.my, or log on to For KDU College Penang, call 04226 6368, e-mail best@kdupg.edu.my, or log on to