Our strengths
Why DAE?
- High-quality university in the heart of Western Europe, with comparatively low tuition fees
- Industry-approved and award-winning curriculum, with alumni in leading companies and studios all over the world
- Unique: technical artist profile. No matter which major you choose, you will have a good grasp of what your colleagues are up to, which makes cooperation easier
- Study in the small, comprehensive, safe and beautiful historic city of Kortrijk, at the banks of the river Leie, where over 1000 years of history meet with modern architecture and design
What is DAE?
- An internationally-focused, English-taught Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Arts and Entertainment
- Specialisation in Game Development, Game Graphics Production, Independent Game Production or 3D Production & VFX
- A 3-year full-time programme, 180 ECTS credits
- At Howest University College in Flanders, Belgium, Europe
International focus of DAE
- Close proximity to the UK, France, The Netherlands and Germany
- Discover Europe while you’re here - Join our study trips to the UK, USA and Japan
- Spend a study semester at one of our partner universities in another country
- Go on international, high-profile internships
- Start building your international network by meeting students from all over the world
Technologies used at DAE
- Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Autodesk Maya, Unreal UDK, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Pixologic Zbrush, PS3 Dev Kit, Adobe After Effects, Adobe CS4, C++, .NET Framework (C#), Eyeon Fusion, Microsoft Visual Studio Professional, DirectX SDK, Unity, MySql, Lumonix ShaderFX, Nvidia FX Composer, Nvidia PhysX SDK, fmod, Open GL ES, WebGL, Maxscript, HLSL, GLSL, …
Studying at Howest: more than just classes
DAE is hard work, but we offer a lot of extra opportunities:
GAME JAM and FILM JAM
For the 2nd-year students, classes during the first week of the second semester are cancelled for the game/film jam, in which teams of 5 create their own game or short film in no more than 3 days!
We also actively encourage and support our students to take part in other game jams and in a wide range of competitions in Belgium and abroad.
Career/internship fair
Each year in October, when our senior students are looking for an internship, we organise a big fair on campus, where dozens of companies from different countries come to The Level to introduce themselves and their internship offer to our students, and get the opportunity to interview the candidates.
Industry sessions
Every Tuesday, companies are invited to give presentations to DAE students and staff, to enlighten and inspire us with their passion and expertise. Subjects can vary from artistic or programming projects to level design workshops, from a post-mortem of a newly-released game to a movie breakdown or a TEDx presentation.
Community management and study nights
Every Thursday evening, the campus stays open late for students of all years, to study together and help each other out in an informal setting, with extra focus on the bigger deadlines and assignments that are due around that time.
But also at other times, our dynamic Community Manager organises activities and events for our students. On top of that, international students and their buddies find a ‘home away from home’ at The Oasis, our international students’ lounge, where they can organise their own gatherings, movie nights and events.
Study trips to England, the United States or Japan
The DAE study trips are one of the highlights of your study career. They give you a chance to visit world-famous companies, take a look behind the scenes, get first-hand invaluable advice from industry professionals and maybe even secure an internship or job offer.
Companies we have visited in the previous years are Valve, Arenanet, Bungie, Microsoft Game Studios, Facebook, PopCap, Unity, Pixar, Electronic Arts, MPC, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Splash Damage, Guerrilla Games Cambridge, The Creative Assembly, Boss Alien, Studio Gobo, Jagex, Exient, Natural Motion, and many more!