STATE OF PLAY
New York schools are winning with top-rated game design degrees
IT’S official — New York’s got game. Last month, the Princeton Review released its ninth annual rankings of the top 50 undergraduate and top 25 graduate schools for students to study and launch a career in game design, and two state institutions made the top 10 cut for both lists.
New York University and Rochester Institute of Technology landed second and fifth place for undergraduate programs and second and seventh for graduate ones, respectively. Based on a 2017 survey of 150 schools worldwide, the 40-question evaluation yielded highly telling data on everything from academic offerings to lab facilities to graduates’ starting salaries.
“The field of game design is fast-growing, as are the number of schools offering courses,” says David Soto, director of content development for the Princeton Review. “At a time that parents are concerned about their kids getting a job after college, game design is a solid industry, with undergraduates receiving starting salaries between $60,000 and $70,000.”
At Rochester Institute of Technology, game design started out as a concentration in the early 2000s.
“Our program is both a degree and in its own department — we’re not a computer-science program trying to offer game design. We teach specifically for game-design development,” says Jessica Bayliss, associate director of RIT’s School of Interactive Games and Media.
Roughly 180 out of 900 students who apply are accepted. Those granted entry get “good grounding in computer science and programming development,” says Bayliss. “It’s about core proficiency. Core courses include software development in C Sharp and C++, basics of game design and general media studies.”
Interestingly, “many students minor in Japanese,” says Bayliss. “If you look at the history of games, there’s a lot of innovation there.”
For high schoolers considering this path, “Determine whether or not you like to program computers. There are a lot of free programs to get involved with, such as Game Jam, a hackathon for video games,” says Bayliss. “Get good grades in math and science, too,” she says.
New York University’s Game Center undergraduate program is part of the Tisch School of the Arts, which places an emphasis on games as a form of culture and game design as a creative practice, an important distinction, says Frank Lantz, its director. “It’s a creative form, akin to music, literature and film. It’s a way of thinking about games,” he says.
An incredibly strong faculty of talented instructors, such as Eric Zimmerman, game designer, co-founder and chief design officer of development company Gamelab, is advantageous.
Undergrads come from diverse backgrounds, says Lantz, with “interests in character design, visual art, coding and software. Core classes include game design, game development and games studies, which concentrates on [the] history of games and analysis.”
At the graduate level, “We take between 20 and 30 percent of people who apply [from 130 applications],” says Lantz. “The majority are already working professionals.”
Students are also interested in starting their own companies, says the administrator. “The East Coast is known as a hub for innovation, experimentation, creativity and an indie spirit, which is something we embrace,” he says.
To apply to NYU’s programs, “The creative portfolio is a major factor. You don’t have to submit finished games, but the work should be strong and reflect the capabilities and passion of the person,” says Lantz.
NYU prides itself on preparing students for a successful career.
“Today’s professionals must be comfortable working with code and savvy enough to make a prototype, but who are also original in innovative design thinking. There’s less of a division between designers and makers and more of a need for people who can do both.”