INTRODUCTION TO DIGIPEN
INTRODUCTION TO POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA
About DigiPen
Do you play video games? You’ve probably played at least one of the more than 2,000 commercial titles developed by a DigiPen graduate. What will you go on to create?
Since 1988, DigiPen Institute of Technology has been preparing students to succeed as skilled engineers, artists, and designers in the growing technology industries.
About Karma Play Academy
Karma Play Academy has been established to address the serious skills shortage in the video game industry. The academy is a division of video game developer, Karma Play based in Kerala, India.
Karma Play is a registered game developer for the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X. The company is currently working on multiple games for the PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and mobiles.
Courses
DIGIPEN POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN GAME PROGRAMMING
This is a two-year, three-trimester intensive program designed to prepare graduates for careers in game art and real-time production. The program emphasizes Unreal Engine mastery alongside foundational art training, ensuring readiness for studios built around real-time pipelines.
The curriculum begins with core visual and 3D foundations, then advances into Unreal-driven modeling, animation, VFX, lighting, and environment building. Each trimester culminates in a Game Art Project, with later projects conducted collaboratively with programming peers to simulate professional production workflows.
By completion, graduates will have produced a portfolio of Unreal-integrated assets, environments, and a capstone game project, demonstrating industry-standard proficiency in texturing, lighting, rendering, and environment design.
Key Outcomes
- Apply visual literacy in proportion, perspective, light, color, and composition, supported by digital painting workflows
- Demonstrate figure drawing and anatomy fluency, applying knowledge of structure, gesture, and expression to character-driven work
- Model, texture, light, and render game-ready assets optimized for Unreal pipelines
- Design immersive environments using modular kits, landscapes, foliage, and atmospheric lighting in Unreal
- Animate characters and props using foundational body mechanics and performance-driven motion, integrated with Unreal Control Rig and Sequencer
- Design and evaluate gameplay systems through mechanics, narrative framing, and cinematic language, supported by UI/UX prototypes built in Unreal UMG
- Implement VFX and gameplay-driven effects through Niagara and post-process integration
- Optimize and profile
assets and environments for efficiency in real-time production
DIGIPEN POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN DIGITAL ARTS
This intensive two-year game development program trains computer science graduates to become professional Unreal Engine developers through three progressive trimesters and a full year game industry internship.
The curriculum focuses on game-specific implementations of mathematics, advanced C++ patterns for game engines, and deep technical specialization in graphics, physics, AI, and multiplayer networking. Students master modern C++ for games, mathematical implementation for real-time systems, Unreal Engine 5, and professional game development practices.
Through three progressively challenging team projects – each integrating more complex systems – students develop the technical expertise and collaborative skills necessary for immediate contribution to professional game development teams as engine programmers, graphics programmers, or senior gameplay engineers.
Key Outcomes
- Design and implement complete games using Unreal Engine 5, integrating custom rendering systems, physics simulation, artificial intelligence, and networking for AAA-quality game development.
- Architect advanced C++ systems using modern language features, Unreal Engine conventions, design patterns, and software engineering best practices to create scalable, maintainable game engines and frameworks.
- Analyze and solve complex technical challenges in game development through mathematical modeling, algorithmic optimization, graphics programming, and cross-system integration for high-performance real-time applications.
- Extend game engine capabilities through custom rendering passes, shader development, plugin architecture, and low-level system programming while maintaining engine compatibility and performance.
- Evaluate and optimize game system performance through advanced profiling, architectural analysis, GPU/CPU optimization, and data-driven decision making while balancing technical complexity with production requirements.
Key Features
►Study for an American postgraduate diploma in India
►A full year game industry internship in the second year
►Study onsite at our campus or fully online
►Students taught by current industry professionals who worked on over three hundred video games over the past 40+ years
►Learn from game developers who created legendary games such as Quake 3, Wave Race 64, Ridge Racer, Unreal Tournament, Star Wars Jedi Academy, The Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift, Returnal, Candy Crush Saga, Space Engineers, EA Golf Pro Tour, Grounded, and Wasteland 3
►Learn how to develop games for the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X
►Study even if you are working full-time via our online course
►Cutting-edge syllabus updated regularly to keep up with the latest video game industry technologies
►Separate syllabus for game artists and programmers
►International guest lectures on specialist topics
►Dedicated Employment Cell with a database of over 1,000 game developers and publishers
International Guest Lectures
Every year, Karma Play Academy hosts a series of guest lectures from highly experienced game developers. Explore the world-class expertise shared with our students.
Dave Sharp
Video Game Startup & Business Development
Richard M. Holmes
Game Development & Publishing
Ajith Ram
Video Game Production
Richard Dansky
Narrative Game Writing
Chetan Karman
Qality Assurance Processes in Modern Games
Kate Edwards
Video game development & publishing
Franck Boyer
Game Design & Production
Kurt McClung
Transmedia IP
Joel Blakely
Triple A Character Art
Alice Kent
Narrative Design
Sally Blake
Video game Production & Publishing
Sam Striker
Sound effects and interactive audio
Jared Yeager
Video game production & IP development
Elaine Gómez
Game Design
Brooke Burgess
Game Design
Jérémy Hartvick
Game Director
Guest Lecture Subjects
- Narrative writing for games
- Cinematic lighting in AAA games
- Dynamic audio generation for games
- Using AI in game animation pipeline
- Photorealistic character creation for AAA games
- Introduction to modern game production pipeline
- Introduction to game design document creation
- Milestone planning and risk management for games
- Budgeting for game production
- UI/UX design strategies for games
- Introduction to LiveOps game community management
- Introduction to game streamer marketing
- Video game PR in the era of social media
- Game marketing strategies for Steam
- Video game marketing using analytics
- Introduction to games using virtual reality
- Introduction to games using mixed reality
- Sound design for AAA games
- Setting up an indie game studio
- A battle as old as time (game developers vs game publishers)
- Game development tales from the trench
- User acquisition strategies for mobile games
- ntroduction to game certification for home consoles (Sony PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2)
Final Year Internship
The entire second year is dedicated to a game industry internship at our parent company, Karma Play.
Students get hands-on experience by working on a commercial video game that will be shipping worldwide for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X.
Learn actual game development via teamwork and project management.
Employment Cell
Our full-fledged Employment Cell maintains a database of over 1,000 game developers and a regularly updated list of available jobs.
- Prepares student CVs.
- Conducts mock interviews.
- Connects students with roles for artists, programmers, QA testers, and more.
World-Class Facilities
Onsite students get access to a dedicated gaming workstation PC for the duration of the course.
We have a separate Console Gaming Room featuring the latest hardware:
- Sony PlayStation 5 & PlayStation VR2
- Microsoft Xbox Series X
- Nintendo Switch
Videos
HOW TO CREATE A VIDEO GAME
A CAREER IN VIDEO GAMES
INTRODUCTION TO VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY
ART DIRECTION IN VIDEO GAMES
ANIMATION IN VIDEO GAMES
GENERATIVE AI FOR ART & ANIMATION
TECHNOLOGY IN VIDEO GAMES
SOUND DESIGN IN VIDEO GAMES
FAQs
The diplomas are awarded by DigiPen USA and Karma Play Academy over a two-year period. If the students successfully complete the first year, they will receive a diploma from DigiPen. Upon the completion of the second year, all students will receive a postgraduate diploma from Karma Play Academy.
Yes. DiGiPen Institute of Technology is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC), a recognized institutional accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education. ACCSC accredits private post-secondary institutions that primarily educate students for technical and occupational careers. ACCSC accredits more than 650 post-secondary, trade, and technical schools that provide education to over 150,000 students in a wide variety of technical programs each year. You can find more details about ACCSC at (www.accsc.org). Karma Play Academy is accredited by Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE) to run game development training courses. You can find more information about KASE at (www.kase.in).
Yes. The online diploma courses are designed to enable working people to study video game development. You just need to be able to set aside enough time every week for your work as well as education. Contact us to find out more.
All students studying at our campus are taught by members of the DigiPen USA faculty members living in India. The onsite classroom lectures by the American faculty are augmented by live video tutorials streamed directly from the DigiPen’s campus in Seattle, United States.
Yes. There is no difference between the two diplomas. Contact us for more information about the syllabus.
Yes. The second-year internship is exactly the same for the two diploma courses.
Each member of our faculty has over 20 years’ experience in the video games industry or a closely related industry. Our tutors have worked on over 300 blockbuster games for the PC, consoles and mobiles. These games include Unreal Tournament, Quake 3, Star Wars Jedi Academy, Candy Crush Saga, Wasteland 3, Returnal, Grounded, Space Engineers and The Outer Worlds 2. See our panel of tutors for their full profiles and list of games.
The students will be working on one of the internal game projects in development at Karma Play, the parent company of Karma Play Academy. Karma Play recently announced Hollywood Director The Simulation® for the PC. Keep checking the Karma Play website to find out more about recent announcements.
Since its inception in 1972, the video game industry has been expanding till the present day. This means that employers are always on the hunt for new talent in game design, programming, art, production and quality assurance.
Starting from the first year, the Employment Cell works closely with the DigiPen and Karma Play Academy faculty in the student grading and evaluation process. This student grading process continues during the second-year game industry internship.
Students are evaluated not just on their academic rigour, but also on their creative and communication skills. To improve the communication skill of each student, the Employment Cell hosts regular public debates on contemporary topics but not necessarily linked to the video game industry.
The Employment Cell maintains a database of over 1,000 game developers and publishers worldwide. This database also includes a constantly evolving list of available job opportunities.
Towards the end of the two years, each student will work with a member of the Employment Cell team to fine tune their CV and game portfolio before it is sent out to potential employers in India and abroad. Contact us for more information.
Yes. We arrange accommodation near the campus for all students who request it.
All students will get a private bedroom. They will also have access to a common bath, kitchen and living room. The student accommodation also has modern cooking facilities, a washing machine, TV and fast WiFi broadband.
Yes. All students will get individual recommendation letters from the faculty to future employers.
Industry Accreditation & Knowledge Partners
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