DePaul's Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Game Development was the first of its kind in a Liberal Arts University, and was established in 2004. There are currently over 150 students majoring in the program. We have strong ties to the Chicago-area game development community, are a sponsor of the Chicago chapter of the IGDA and employ many working game industry professionals as adjuncts.
Our program’s Industry Advisory Board includes executives from Midway Games, Wideload Games, Day 1 Studios, and others. We have strong involvement in our (DeFrag) student organization for extra-curricular game development and projects. In 2007 our faculty were awarded an XNA Curriculum Development grant from Microsoft Corporation to enhance our development labs with Xbox 360 hardware.
In 2008 DePaul named Eugene Jarvis of Raw Thrills as Game Designer in Residence. Mr. Jarvis' classic arcade creations include Defender, Robotron, NARC, Cruis'n, Smash TV, Target:Terror and Fast and the Furious.
Our multi-disciplinary program features team-based projects, including multi-term projects that involve programmers, producers, designers and animators.
DePaul offers an MS in Computer Game Development specializing in game programming, and additional graduate study in the game development area through an Animation concentration in the MS in Digital Cinema and an MS in Computer Graphics.
DePaul's Game Development program is located in the College of Computing & Digital Media, alongside established programs in Computer Science, Computer Graphics, Digital Cinema, Interactive Media, and Animation. This allows students the freedom to explore their areas of interest, from hard-core programming to expressive design.
Our BS in Animation is focused on modeling and animation for game development and cinema fields. The BS in Animation provides students with a solid foundation in the art of animation and its history combined with insight into the latest techniques used in the rapidly-moving fields of high end 3D animation in the film, television, and game development industries.
Students will learn a comprehensive set of skills in 3D including character animation, modeling, texturing, lighting, and rigging. 3D courses are designed to provide students with necessary proficiencies while also encouraging creativity and experimentation. Students interested in game art will have additional options for gaining experience through cross-disciplinary classes in game development and production and through work on game development teams.
DePaul University was founded in 1898 and is the ninth largest private, not-for-profit university in the nation.
