Introducing Master’s Program 4.0 in Game Studies at Public Universities in the Republic of Serbia

At the suggestion of the “Digital Serbia” initiative, at the beginning of March 2020, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development issued a Public Call for the Selection of Multidisciplinary Master’s Study Programs That Would Connect Faculties of Sciences and Mathematics with Faculties of Arts, as well as with Companies Working in Creative Economy. Two new master’s programs 4.0 were created based on the call, specific to video games development—“Computer Game Development” at the University of Kragujevac and “The Art and Design of Video Games” at the University of Arts in Belgrade in collaboration with the Faculty of Mathematics. The programs brought together 13 higher education institutions from three state universities and more than ten software companies. The Ministry of Education provided 15 budget places, while the “Digital Serbia” initiative provided five unconditional scholarships for each program. Both master’s programs provide internship lasting for at least eight weeks in one of the involved companies. Some of the subjects of study are Virtual Reality Systems, 3D Animation and Video Game Dramaturgy. Students who choose to study video game development, art, and design will take three semesters of interdisciplinary studies to gain knowledge and skills in a variety of computer game development fields, including narrative development, visual concept design, sound/music, production, animation, 3D modeling, commercial distribution, interactive computing, and management. All students with bachelor’s degrees and 240 ESPB points in study subjects pertaining to the arts or technical and technological sciences have the right to enroll. Three short one-semester programs were developed that cover fields such as game development, business skills, digital art, narrative techniques, music and sound: “Video Game 3D Designs” and “Sound in Video Games” at the University of Arts in Belgrade and “Computer Games Development” at the University of Kragujevac. These programs are designed to meet the needs of the video-games industry and do not require a bachelor’s degree; anyone with a high school diploma is eligible to apply. Two master’s and three short programs at public universities in Belgrade and Kragujevac employed over 50 educators for over 45 study programs and over 10 companies were involved in the lectures and internship.