Intake Dates
Graduate Diploma
Feb 2024
Duration
Graduate Diploma
1 year
Fees
Graduate Diploma: VETSL approved
Domestic / International
Start your own studio or innovative digital business
The Games Business course is an postgraduate entrepreneurship program comprised of the Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning) which helps to further develop your independent business. This program is highly relevant to all disciplines and can help with developing business-related skills as well as leadership and other enterprise skills which are highly valued in the competitive game development job market.
Learners completing the Games Business program have gone onto publish their games as a fully independent studio, been awarded business grants and other support through the AIE Incubator Program, or have established their own freelance business serving the broader game development or related industry.
Why bring your games business to life with AIE?
What does success look like?
In Games Business, you are encouraged to develop your own definitions of personal and professional success and then put in place systems to achieve that success. Learners in this program have:
- Created a Professional Studio to develop and publish their original Intellectual Property.
- Explored options for games-adjacent businesses to take advantage of broader opportunities in industry including marketing, recruitment, eSports and training.
- Developed their enterprise skills such as leadership to enhance their prospects in a competitive job market (including overseas).
- Developed a freelancing business in Art or another gamedev discipline to pursue as an independent contractor.
FAQ
The Game Business course is a postgraduate course for students that have completed the Advanced Diploma and Bachelor Degree that have learnt all about making games and animation. This programs assists these students to turn their new creative skills into innovative businesses.
This course is not about becoming a better game developer or animator although you will be making more creative content, so that will happen too! It is about working purposefully on a project with very clear goals to create income.
Not at all! When you are studying the Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning), you spend three full days a week studying courses like Strategic Transformation and Business Planning, and two days on a project of your own choice. This may be building a game studio and developing a game for commercial release, or developing your freelancing business and portfolio/skills for attracting clients, or developing a games-adjacent business such as in marketing, recruitment, or eSports. The only requirement is that your business is planned as a commercial enterprise (ie designed to make money) and that it is in the games industry, broadly speaking. The only limit is your business creativity!
Yes. Your study component over the year requires three full days study each week (except for holidays), and for the other two days you are expected to work on your project or business development. At the same time, we realise that other commitments arise and the program strives to be a professional work environment with flexibility where possible, as long as necessary outcomes are delivered. Please speak to your Trainer about your particular circumstances.
Yes, eligible students in this course can apply for a VET Student Loan to defer the cost of their tuition fees. It is important to note that VET Student Loans will not be approved for students who do not meet eligibility requirements. A VET Student Loan gives rise to a VETSL debt that continues to be a debt due to the Commonwealth until it is repaid. A VET Student Loan is repaid through
the Australian tax system once a person reaches the minimum income threshold level of repayment.
To be eligible for a VET Student Loan, a student must meet eligibility criteria which includes citizenship, academic and other requirements. For more information about the VET Student Loans eligibility criteria visit aie.edu.au/vet
The short answer is yes. This is actually a topic for debate in industry: while some feel that only particular people need to have business skills in a studio, these are usually larger studios who can afford to pay business professionals. Smaller and more independent studios often require all their members to have some business skills, so that everyone can contribute to marketing, for example, or so that everyone understands the need for effective marketing, or their overall contribution to the bottom line of the business.
How has the games business program helped you?

The Graduate Diploma has been essential for the early development of our studio. Being able to understand what it takes to create a sustainable studio and practical application of creating financial goals, company values and culture as well as leadership skills have significantly the growth of our studio. I would highly recommend if you are planning on working in the game development industry either starting your own studio or becoming part of a larger studio. The skills learnt throughout this course put you in a prime position to take advantage of all the opportunities this industry has to offer.