Year 4 - Video Game Professional Cycle

Duration & location

1 year full-time on-site
Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier, Nantes, Rennes, Toulouse
Target audience

People in initial training with student status
Prerequisites and admission requirements

See Admission and fees
certificate assessment in 4th grade
(RCNP38806)
- Continuous assessment: ongoing evaluation of video game progress in professional conditions.
- Certification assessments: professional scenarios and evaluation by a professional jury of end-of-year games.
Internship

8 weeks minimum between 3rd and/or 4th year
Fees

See Admission and fees

Year 4

Video Game Professional Cycle

The culmination of your apprenticeship, this final year of the cycle is the culmination of intensive practice and hard work over 4 years.

Because you have mastered the artistic and technical skills inherent in your chosen speciality, this year is devoted to the group production of a complete video game prototype, presented at the end of the year to a jury of hand-picked professionals.

What does the final year involve?

Join the big boys of the video games industry

Dedicated exclusively to making your video game, 4th year is the final destination of your course at ESMA.

In real-life professional conditions, using cutting-edge software and infrastructures, you will design your own entire production.

From identity to game design, from storytelling to gameplay, from prototyping to development, you will put into practice all the skills and know-how you have acquired throughout the course.

At the end of the course, you’ll be ready to join a team of experts in a company.

What’s your next big success in the world of gaming?

Discover the associated professions

Objectives
- Design a video game (final year project) as part of a team and present it to a panel of professionals
- Prepare for entry into professional life (meetings with professionals, conferences with professionals, etc.)
Teaching methods and resources

The program alternates between theoretical courses, workshops, and masterclasses. This diversity, combined with project-based teaching, promotes enhanced learning. The team, made up of professionals, supports students on a coherent and progressive path, monitoring their projects throughout the program.
The equipment and software provided, which are used intensively during the training, guarantee complete mastery of the tools of the industry.

Highlights of the year

Designing the end-of-studies game as a team

The students come up with innovative game concepts, gameplay mechanics and storytelling.
Prototype Gameplay and Art Direction

Once the concepts have been chosen, the students enter the prototyping / research and development phase.
Meeting with professionals

All the student teams are supported by production sponsors from the industry.
Professional simulations

Dedicated room accessible during office hours, meeting rooms, daily reviews with permanent teachers.
Grand Prix

Awards ceremony following the screening of the video games, meeting with professionals.

Validation of the training by a Professional certification

The training program is validated by professional certification RNCP38806 – Video Game Designer – Game Designer, Level 6 (Bac+3/4) registered in the National Directory of Professional Certifications, dated 03/27/2024.

Certifiers: ETPA-Creative Schools, Creative Schools Montpellier, Creative Schools Rennes, Creative Schools Bordeaux.

Professional certification is obtained by validating the following skills, including one option:

Proposing a game concept to a sponsor
Designing and prototyping a game
Coordinating the various stages of video game development
Monitor the quality of the player experience
Create the graphic elements of a game (Game Art option) OR Create the gameplay elements of a game (Gameplay Programming option)

Possibility of validating one or more skill sets.

The certification is also accessible through VAE. (Validation of Acquired Experience)

More information on France Compétences

Certification assessment procedures

Continuous assessment: ongoing evaluation of video game progress in professional conditions.
Certification assessments: professional scenarios and evaluation by a professional jury of end-of-year projects.

Teaching and assessment methods may be adapted if necessary to accommodate disabilities, in accordance with the RNCP (French National Register of Professional Certifications) standards.

Find out more about Disability and accessibility.

Career opportunities and further education

Our certification leads to direct entry into professional life.
However, it is possible to continue your education in a higher-level program.

See career opportunities

At ESMA we take
success seriously.

99% success rate* for certification (class of 2025) *Consolidated results from the Creative Schools Network certifiers
98% of candidates taking the exam (class of 2025)
81% Overall employment integration rate* at 6 months (class of 2022) * Inclusion is calculated based on respondents, in accordance with the methodology defined by France Compétences.
60% of job placement* in the targeted profession within 6 months (class of 2022) *Inclusion is calculated based on respondents, in accordance with the methodology defined by France Compétences.