The Interaction Technologies and Games (ITG) programme gives you the opportunity to become a professional, technical expert in the meeting between people and technology – and how to realize creative projects in interdisciplinary teams at any scale.
You will be well placed to help create the apps, games and digital solutions of the future in the Creative Industries and beyond – whether the goal is entertainment, learning, training, medical or educational. From building a business to making a difference in the world, games and other interactive technologies are at the foreground of innovation. Be part of driving that innovation.
The specialisation in ITG is about researching, making and understanding games and interactive technologies across contexts, as well as how games and other interactive products can create meaning for people, and how they can impact society in e.g. education or health.
Builds directly on the Bachelor’s programme in Game Development and Learning Technologies (GDLT), advancing your technical, design, research, management and project skills, adding entrepreneurship and foundational business skills on top of your existing skillset.
You can learn how to use industry-standard design methods and technologies, AI tools, experimentation, analytical tools, critical thinking and scientific research to drive innovation, design and development.
The programme adds expertise in leading creative teams and applying cutting-edge technologies to make games, digital products and solve real problems.
Is This Programme for You?
As a student in the Interaction Technologies and Games specialisation in the Software Engineering Master’s Programme, you want to be an innovator where people meet technology. Games and play are one of the most powerful drivers of engagement and action and are utilized across the Creative Industries whether for entertainment or work.
You understand the need to be a technical expert and the need to learn the techniques and tools of design, development and research. You want to not only make games or other interactive technologies, but work with the latest innovations, and widen the horizon of what is possible. You also understand that creating engaging experiences requires a variety of expertise, and that teamwork is the foundational engine of creation in the creative sector. You also understand that business skills are needed to create the opportunity to build the interactive products of your dreams.
The programme combines software engineering with hands-on experience in designing digital products and interactive systems, across web applications to virtual reality and smart devices. It prepares you to create innovative, user-centred technologies that enhance how people connect, learn, and interact with the digital world.
Programme Structure
The programme aims to provide a solid understanding of the research, design and development process of building games and other interactive products across the Creative Industries, including education, health and culture. The programme builds advanced skills on top of the solid foundational technical basis of the GDLT BSc programme. The programme also brings in extensive project work, where you will realize multiple products across games, playful experiences and beyond, from start to finish, building an expansive portfolio of proof of your competences.
The ITG programme is run by the SDU Metaverse Lab, a research section under the Maersk McKinney-Moeller Institute (MMMI) at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Southern Denmark, whose staff actively work with the Creative Industries in Denmark and beyond (gdlt.sdu.dk). Most have prior industry experience and have worked on games and other interactive products across startup companies to the largest technology companies in the world. They ensure that skills you learn during the programme are highly applicable within and outside the Creative Industries.
Components of the ITG programme
The ITG programme is a specialisation of the MSc in Software Engineering at the University of Southern Denmark. There are currently four of these specialisations. Each have a set of core modules just for them, as well as a series of project courses, which orient around the specialisations but are shared by all students in the MSc programme, as well as two common spine courses, similarly shared across all four specialisations. Four electives provide the ability to specialise, and the programme is capped by a master’s thesis in the 4th semester in your chosen area/specialisation:
4 core courses: Advanced design and development skills. These are unique to the ITG programme. They each involve smaller-scale projects in which you can develop your own projects, such as games, AI-prototypes and engaging interactive experiences.
2 common spine courses: Focusing on research skills and the how to scale software development from small to large scales. These are shared across all specialisations
2 project courses: These focus on real-world research, design, development and entrepreneurship challenges, and are grounded in projects within the specialisation (e.g., ITG students will work with projects in their domain). These projects seek to deepen your RDDB (research, design, development, business) skills and expand your portfolio.
4 electives: There is a broad range of electives available to help you build expertise in the domains you are particularly interested in.
1 thesis: This is your capstone R&D project.
Software Engineering Masters Specialisation Programme: Interaction Technologies and Games | ||||||
4 sem | Master’s Thesis (30 ECTS or 40 ECTS) | |||||
3 sem | Engineering of Innovative Software (10 ECTS project in the ITG specialisation) | Elective (5 ECTS) | Elective (5 ECTS) | Elective (5 ECTS) | Elective (5 ECTS) | |
2 sem | Engineering Research in Software (10 ECTS project in the ITG specialisation) | Advanced Interaction Design (5 ECTS + 5 ECTS project) | Design of Metaverse Experiences (5 ECTS + 5 ECTS project) | |||
1 sem | Scientific Methods (5 ECTS) | Advanced Software (5 ECTS) | Modern Game Development (5 ECTS + 5 ECTS project) | Game AI in Practice (5 ECTS + 5 ECTS project) | ||
The core courses
Each core course is 10 ECTS, and contains a teaching component as well as a project carried out in teams, where you use and implement the tools, technique and theory obtained in the course:
• Modern Game Development (1St): Build 3D games and simulations in Unreal Engine using contemporary workflows.
• Game AI in Practice (1St): Apply cutting-edge AI techniques in games and 3D applications.
• Design of Metaverse Experiences (2nd): Design interactive experiences across realities and modalities.
• Advanced Interaction Design (2nd): Expand and professionalise future-ready design skills.
The Project Courses
This course turns you and your classmates into a small research team: you pick a real challenge drawn from advanced research areas associated with your specialisation and across the semester work to design, develop, and evaluate a novel method or solution. It is not just writing code: you will define a clear research question, plan an approach grounded in existing theory, choose appropriate evaluation methods (empirical, statistical, user-facing, or mathematical), and reflect on how your result fits within the broader field of your domain.
By the end, you will be able to: explain advanced software-engineering concepts and research questions; propose and justify your own methods; build the solution; evaluate its properties; and critically assess its strengths and limitations compared to other approaches. The main work is done in small groups, under supervision, offering hands-on research-style experience rather than typical lecture-based learning.
This course invites you to work in teams on real software-innovation projects: either a startup idea you bring, or a challenge provided by industry. Over one semester you treat your team as a mini-startup – combining software engineering skills with entrepreneurship. You will design, prototype, and iteratively develop a software solution that you also evaluate in terms of market potential, usability, quality, cost and sustainability.
As part of the course, you will learn not only how to build software quickly and responsibly (lean product development, rapid prototyping, usability testing…), but also how to think about the broader picture: business modelling, market analysis, ethics and societal impact, and sustainability.
The Common Spine Courses
This course is all about learning how to carry out good scientific research across industry or academia, whether for a master’s thesis or any research-style project. You will get familiar with different research methods (both qualitative and quantitative), learn how to search and read academic literature, and practice writing research-style reports.
By the end of the course, you should be able to formulate clear research questions, find and evaluate relevant literature, choose methods that make sense for your topic (e.g. experiments, surveys, or data analysis), and present your findings, both in writing and orally, with academic rigor and integrity, for a technology industry that is increasingly driven by, and is at the forefront of, scientific research.
This course will teach you a variety of modern approaches to building software as it’s done today, everything from agile and startup-style methods (like lean & design thinking) to large-scale frameworks (e.g. scaled Agile/LeSS), distributed/global development, and quality-focused practices (maintenance, testing, security, etc.).
The idea is to give you a broad toolbox of methods so you can adapt to different project types: small startups, vast enterprise projects, or globally distributed teams.
You will examine and compare different methodologies – diving into their theory, strengths, and pitfalls – and practice planning and executing a software project using those methods.
By the end of the course, you should be comfortable evaluating which methodology fits a given business or team context, make informed choices about tools and practices, and handle typical real-world challenges tied to software development (scalability, collaboration, maintenance, quality)
The Master’s Thesis
This module is the final capstone of your master’s degree: it gives you a chance to dive deeply into a topic you care about – on your own or with a team – and show that you can do serious academic (or practical-academic) work on your own initiative. Together with a supervisor from your section (e.g., SDU Metaverse Lab, Software Engineering), you choose a topic, define a research question or problem, decide on an approach or method (theoretical, empirical, design or development), and then spend the semester investigating, analysing, building or writing – depending on your topic.
By the end of the thesis module, you submit a written thesis that reflects your independent work: it must show that you can gather and critically evaluate relevant background material (existing literature, prior research or systems), pick or design suitable methods, carry out an analysis or build a solution / prototype if relevant, and draw well-argued conclusions. You must also reflect on the limitations of your approach and justify your methodological choices.
In short: the master’s thesis module is where you prove that you do not just pass courses, but that you can think, research, build and/or design, work independently, and contribute something substantial. It is a project that lets you explore something meaningful in your field (typically connected to your interests in games, interactive systems or digital technologies), under guidance, and wrap up your master’s degree with a piece of work that showcases your knowledge, skills, critical thinking, and creativity.
Graduate Competence Profile
A graduate in GDLT+ITG is equipped to solve complex technical research, design and development challenges across the Creative Industries and beyond
They can lead the design, development, and implementation of software and hardware with a focus on user-centred applications.
Graduates can deliver high-quality, research-driven interaction technologies individually and in team settings, in interdisciplinary and multinational collaborative environments.
They are skilled in selecting appropriate AI techniques and data-informed decision-making, balancing conflicting project goals, and designing solutions suited to diverse applications.
Graduates are well-prepared for agile and creative work environments, responding to the rapid iteration needs typical of the broader industrial sectors including creative industries and interactive technologies across games, education, health, security and production
They also have a specific competence in driving innovation and entrepreneurship processes in industry
Career Opportunities
The competencies you acquire during your MSc in in Software Engineering following the ITG programme are highly applicable across the Creative Industries and beyond. Graduates can handle a range of positions across private and public companies and organisations (e.g. creative industries, medical industries, telecommunications, technology sector, robotics industry, educational industries, entertainment sector).
You will be able to seek a career in Denmark or internationally, working naturally across a range of business types and sizes. Your profile is suited for a wide range of jobs in private companies as well as public institutions and has a particular strength in its technical expertise combined with a keen understanding for design and how to engage users.
Graduates also have specific strengths in any positions related to education, health applications, public services, and can work across interactive platforms.
The profile is also well placed for a wide range of jobs in application development, consultancy, and in public institutions. You will also have the skillset needed to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions.
There are a range of technical, design and research-related positions available for graduates, for example:
Game programmer, gameplay programmer, engine programmer, AI engineer, data analyst, game designer, level designer, producer, QA-manager, games user researcher – as well as versions of these positions across the Creative Industries.
Software designer, software developer, system designer & integrator, front-end IT architect. Interaction designer, system designer
Database programmer, web developer, 3D-programmer, graphical developer, medical technologies engineer, hardware designer, system designer.
UX/UI engineer, product prototype engineer, VR/AR developer.
Organisational functions such as project manager, software quality engineers, IT strategy responsible, or consulting functions such as IT consultant, design consultant or user researcher.
Engineering research functions e.g. scientist, lecturer.
Notably qualified applicants will have the option to continue as PhD-students
Global Competitiveness and Demand
The MSc in Software Engineering with a specialisation in Interactive Technologies and Games prepares you to design and build modern software and hardware that people actually want to use. You will develop strong skills in user-centred design, programming, and interactive systems, the same skills driving today’s biggest shifts in Industry 4.0, smart technologies, and immersive experiences like games and AR/VR.
Across Europe and beyond, there is growing demand for engineers who understand interactive and digital systems: from games and virtual environments to robotics, IoT, and AI-powered applications. You’ll learn how to build adaptable systems, work with data, and make informed design and engineering decisions; all essential for creating the next generation of intelligent, responsive products in both entertainment and industry.
By the time you graduate, you will be well positioned for careers in a wide range of fields where digital transformation is happening fast. This degree gives you not just technical depth, but the ability to work across disciplines, think critically, and contribute to innovative teams in a competitive, global job market.
