DCG Success Stories

Games art undergraduate Jordan Thorpe knew he wanted a career in gaming right from his early teens.

Jordan took level 3 games development at Derby College and is now studying a degree at Staffordshire University.

He said: “I’ve always been interested in making things and I’ve always liked gaming, so I thought why not put the two together and study games development.

“The level 3 course at Derby College was great. The lessons were informative and our lecturers were really good, very supportive.

“Before I went to college, I thought I wanted to be a games programmer but after spending time learning about the arts side of gaming, I got into that and changed my mind.”

As part of his university studies Jordan is specialising in environment art –  building and crafting immersive detailed environments for games.

Jordan is also setting up a gaming studio along with former DCG games development students Lauren Taylor and William Hardy.

He said: “It’s early days and it’ll be great if it takes off, but if it doesn’t it’ll look good on my portfolio.

“We’ve also started an educational YouTube channel for game developers as there isn’t much out there for them at the moment.

“They can find tutorials but there aren’t any published games they can look at. I really enjoy teaching people although I wouldn’t want to teach as a job.

“I want to work in games art and there are so many opportunities, in the gaming sector in the UK and abroad.”

Jordan would definitely recommend DCG’s level 3 games development course to anyone considering a career in gaming.

He said: “It will give you a good idea of where gaming can take you.

“After that, for your degree, I think it’s better to specialise in one area, rather than studying, say, gaming design which is much broader.”