I’m hoping to get into a pretty well regarded game dev school in Sweden that is $25k USD for the entire degree. Comparing it with anything similar in the US is mind boggling. Schools here are impossibly expensive
Future games, innit? The one the ceo of the company that made It Takes Two finished?
It’s mind boggling to me that this school exists. I mean they have the achievements of the alumni to schow, so good for them.
But still it’s a paid school for game dev, famous for crunch, and worse salary than “normal” dev. So not only will you work more, and earn less, you also have to pay for your studies, since standard CS is free.
I’m a little confused here, I’m not EU/Swedish citizen wouldn’t any of my studies require me to pay? I care about money very little which is part of why I’ve been feeling so soul sucked at my current job. I’ve only been here for money for a bit now and I hate it. In a lot of ways I’d rather just be poor. I was happier when I was working for like 1/5 what I make now but felt excited about what I did
I love games and game making. I’ve been skirting around the industry for over 15 years at this point and haven’t been able to crack in yet. Future Games, or any of the schools I’ve applied to, is an opportunity to be on a visa for nearly the entire trump term and hopefully network enough to land a job after school. So I’m not just paying for education I’m paying for my own safety
The crunch is for real but also the job culture in the US is batshit. My first job out of college I ended up pulling 16 hour days 7 days/week. Everywhere here it is expected you’re going to do more work than you’re paid for or you risk getting fired. Crunch time in Sweden sounds like normal time in the US tbh
I didn’t look at the curriculum of the game dev school but from my personal experience studying CS I would say that what you learn there isn’t really comparable to CS besides the programming part
Agreed, and I kind of wish CS and game dev weren’t considered so similar. They both program, sure, and those skills can be moved.
Go ask a Microsoft dev to explain game theory, hotkey availability, and UX. Then, ask a game dev the same questions. You’ll get wildly different answers because they wildly different goals
This is why the tradeification of engineering should be viewed with skepticism. An engineering degree should give you a strong technical background in computing, physics, math, and software without over-specializing. You are meant to learn specific tradecraft on the job.
University in Sweden is free for swedish citizens, it used to be free for foreign students as well, but since some years ago the universities are allowed to put fees on foreign students. Dont remember the exact details of how it works.
Edit: looked it up, still free for people from EU, EES and Switzerland, and people living in Sweden with a resident permit.
I was around when they introduced it. They basically killed some programs because it went from a few students to none. Because why would you pay for a Swedish uni noone heard of instead of a bit more for a famous uni. It was a stupid policy.
They are not, which is why they charge them upfront. But people with a residence permit or citizenship are much more likely to stay long-term.
I have no strong opinion whether that is the right choice, tbh. I see it at my Uni, a lot of foreign students study here and the majority then leaves the country again. Which is fair, but the idea of tax-funded education is, well, it’s tax-funded, so I am more or less directly paying for their education. Is that good/bad/worth it or not? I’m not sure.
Also, I feel like the majority of foreign students that come here just for a degree are already from wealthy backgrounds. I know I’m on dangerous “feelings, not facts” territory, but I get a lot of “rich kid who didn’t get into a good uni in their home country” vibes. The poorer foreign students are usually super smart and got in via a scholarship or the likes.
I’m hoping to get into a pretty well regarded game dev school in Sweden that is $25k USD for the entire degree. Comparing it with anything similar in the US is mind boggling. Schools here are impossibly expensive
Future games, innit? The one the ceo of the company that made It Takes Two finished?
It’s mind boggling to me that this school exists. I mean they have the achievements of the alumni to schow, so good for them.
But still it’s a paid school for game dev, famous for crunch, and worse salary than “normal” dev. So not only will you work more, and earn less, you also have to pay for your studies, since standard CS is free.
I’m a little confused here, I’m not EU/Swedish citizen wouldn’t any of my studies require me to pay? I care about money very little which is part of why I’ve been feeling so soul sucked at my current job. I’ve only been here for money for a bit now and I hate it. In a lot of ways I’d rather just be poor. I was happier when I was working for like 1/5 what I make now but felt excited about what I did
I love games and game making. I’ve been skirting around the industry for over 15 years at this point and haven’t been able to crack in yet. Future Games, or any of the schools I’ve applied to, is an opportunity to be on a visa for nearly the entire trump term and hopefully network enough to land a job after school. So I’m not just paying for education I’m paying for my own safety
The crunch is for real but also the job culture in the US is batshit. My first job out of college I ended up pulling 16 hour days 7 days/week. Everywhere here it is expected you’re going to do more work than you’re paid for or you risk getting fired. Crunch time in Sweden sounds like normal time in the US tbh
I didn’t look at the curriculum of the game dev school but from my personal experience studying CS I would say that what you learn there isn’t really comparable to CS besides the programming part
Agreed, and I kind of wish CS and game dev weren’t considered so similar. They both program, sure, and those skills can be moved.
Go ask a Microsoft dev to explain game theory, hotkey availability, and UX. Then, ask a game dev the same questions. You’ll get wildly different answers because they wildly different goals
This is why the tradeification of engineering should be viewed with skepticism. An engineering degree should give you a strong technical background in computing, physics, math, and software without over-specializing. You are meant to learn specific tradecraft on the job.
That’s still pricey imo
University in Sweden is free for swedish citizens, it used to be free for foreign students as well, but since some years ago the universities are allowed to put fees on foreign students. Dont remember the exact details of how it works. Edit: looked it up, still free for people from EU, EES and Switzerland, and people living in Sweden with a resident permit.
Yeah, if it’s free for your citizens it has to be free for all EU citizens. Getting in can be tricky though.
I was around when they introduced it. They basically killed some programs because it went from a few students to none. Because why would you pay for a Swedish uni noone heard of instead of a bit more for a famous uni. It was a stupid policy.
To be fair, I see the argument. It is tax-paid, so you want to reserve it for people who are likely to pay future taxes.
Why are rich expats more likely to pay taxes in sweden in the future than expats who could not afford tuition?
They are not, which is why they charge them upfront. But people with a residence permit or citizenship are much more likely to stay long-term.
I have no strong opinion whether that is the right choice, tbh. I see it at my Uni, a lot of foreign students study here and the majority then leaves the country again. Which is fair, but the idea of tax-funded education is, well, it’s tax-funded, so I am more or less directly paying for their education. Is that good/bad/worth it or not? I’m not sure.
Also, I feel like the majority of foreign students that come here just for a degree are already from wealthy backgrounds. I know I’m on dangerous “feelings, not facts” territory, but I get a lot of “rich kid who didn’t get into a good uni in their home country” vibes. The poorer foreign students are usually super smart and got in via a scholarship or the likes.