USC Games Program | Everyone Plays

Conquest 2019!

#1Recognized as one of the top game design programs in North America by the Princeton Review, USC Games represents an exciting collaboration between the School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division and the Viterbi School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science. Incorporating elements of design, artistry, production and engineering, USC Games offers an utterly unique educational experience for students, and serves as the launching pad for them to play significant roles in the game design field. With rigorous, hands-on instruction from master designers, producers, engineers and working professionals in the industry, students have an unprecedented level of opportunity to delve into every aspect of creating games for a global audience. Read more about our specific undergraduate and graduate degree programs here.

If you are an potential employer looking to provide Job or Internship Opportunities for our members, email us at USCInteractive@cinema.usc.edu.

Students, Faculty and Alumni looking to stay-up-to-date with USC Games, join the USC Games mailing list!

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News

February 14, 2020

apartment: a separated place

You’re in a white hallway. A door with ‘102’ printed on it stands in the distance. You step towards it and walk through the lingering, floating words of Nick and his girlfriend Madison’s argument. It’s another disagreement, one of the many that led to their separation.

December 28, 2019

Newbies & Vets Game Jam Winners

From October 25-27, USC’s talented students participated in MEGA’s (The Makers of Entertaining Games Association) annual 48-hour Newbies & Vets...

December 20, 2019

Holiday Gift Recommendations

‘Tis the season to hunt for holiday gifts! It may be easy to order scented candles or a cookie basket...

December 16, 2019

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Respawn’s latest release, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes place 5 years after the events of The Revenge of the...

November 23, 2019

New Features in Pokemon Sword and Shield

Excitement is in the air! After years of releasing some of the best games in the Nintendo DS family, Nintendo...

October 24, 2019

The Outer Worlds

Obsidian’s Outer World Is in Your Hands From Obsidian Entertainment, famed developers behind such hits as Fallout: New Vegas comes...

October 18, 2019

USC at IndieCade 2019

This past weekend we had a blast exploring IndieCade, a festival celebrating independent games and their developers, held at Santa...

September 26, 2019

Top 10 Games

2019 may be ending in just a few months, but there are still plenty of quality releases we're looking forward...

September 12, 2019

Borderlands: Then and Now

After four years of development and a five year wait, Borderlands welcomes the latest installment to its franchise. Borderlands 3...

June 15, 2019

E3 2019: Show Highlights

Despite the remote exhibitions of some key publishers, the 25th Annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was filled with lots of...

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Featured Faculty

Tracy Fullerton is the Director of the USC Games Program and Chair of the Interactive Media & Games Division. Her research lab, the Game Innovation Lab, is the premiere center for games research at USC. An expert in experimental game design, her book Game Design Workshop is used in game design programs worldwide.

Lead designer on the critical and commercial hit series of Uncharted games from the Sony-owned developer Naughty Dog, Richard Lemarchand has a long history in the commercial games industry. Now a tenured Associate Professor in the USC Games program, he is also an active speaker and evangelist for indie games.

A leading figure in the field of user research, Dr. Dennis Wixon holds the Microsoft Endowed Professorship in User Experience. Now a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Cinematic Arts, Wixon has applied his research skills to many products and games including Microsoft Surface and the original Halo game.

Mark Bolas is a researcher exploring perception, agency and intelligence and a tenured Associate Professor in the School of Cinematic Arts. His work focuses on creating virtual environments that fully engage one’s perception and cognition have contributed to such innovations as the Oculus Rift.

A Professor of Engineering Practice in the USC Department of Computer Science, Dr. Michael Zyda is a is a pioneer in the fields of computer graphics, networked virtual environments, modeling and simulation, and serious and entertainment games. He is director of the Gamepipe lab at USC.

Game Director of Reality Ends Here, Jesse Vigil leads new, incoming students in an underground game about media making and collaboration. Reality Ends Here is an award winning experience that challenges the traditional methodologies of education.