A new master's degree program offered through Game Studies and Design, an Informatics program hosted by the iSchool, will provide professional training for students who are interested in working in video game studios, game-adjacent industries, or other businesses where game-related skills are increasingly in demand.
The Master of Science in Game Development, which was approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education on June 26, will launch in fall 2025. The interdisciplinary degree will offer concentrations in the areas of art, design, production, programming, and narrative. It will be offered online with synchronous and asynchronous courses.
While designed to be completed in two years, the online program will have a flexible timeline to accommodate both full-time students and working professionals. In the second year of the program, students will gain real-world experience by working on actual video games with industry partners.
"We think Illinois' depth and diversity of disciplines will support a new kind of interdisciplinary game development program—one that prepares students to make contributions beyond the entertainment industry in ways that transform how we educate, conduct business, and even manage healthcare," said Director of Informatics Programs Lisa Bievenue.
Informatics is developing a studio-based pedagogy in which students gain critical, real-world skills that include collaboration, communication, and professional business practices in interdisciplinary studio-based classrooms. The new and developing programs in Game Studies and Design, for example, will bring together students from across campus, including computer science, art and design, theater, architecture, history, and area studies, to work together on interactive and immersive projects addressing a range of modalities and domains.