hi hi

I am regular CS, don't do much game-dev, it's an interesting field for spending my free time on.

From what I understand here, anything game-dev is highly competitive. Basically, every kid on the block likes to play games, and thus also do game-dev (which is a bad reason, playing and programming is as much related as eating and cooking or as learning and teaching, ie almost nothing but the topic). As a result the market for employees in game-dev industry is over-satured. You need to be really really good for a job.

I would suggest you look at a larger area than just "game-dev". In the end, programming is mostly equal everywhere, it's just the application that changes. I don't know why you think game-dev is more creative than other areas. It may be less sexy perhaps, but eg putting down a Mars rover on the planet next door, and successfully drive it there for a long time needs a lot of creativity too (or did you think that would not need heaps of software???). Don't discard topics because it's not game-dev related. Keep an open mind, try to learn as much as you can, and get surprised by what other areas exist in programming land. Maybe you'll find stumble on something else that takes your heart :)

Sorry, don't live in the UK, don't know about prices, etc.

Good luck in your choice!

My experience is primarily in the US, so may not be as directly applicable.

But here, the credibility of the institution is rarely a deal-breaker, especially if you're only talking about an undergraduate degree. I would be more concerned with the quality of the program - my experience with "game focused" degree programs is that they're generally not an obviously better choice that something more traditional like, say, computer science. But I don't know anything about this school you're talking about.

Go to the best, most-interesting-to-you school you can afford. You'll get far more out of the educational experience than if you went to the "best on paper" school in the country but hated it because it wasn't that interesting for you. Since you get out of your education something proportional to what you put in, you want to be engaged. That will translate to a better experience, and better learning, which in turn will translate to making you slightly more employable when you finish.