New York University will now offer a bachelor of fine arts in video game design. In 2015, Tisch School of the Arts' NYU Game Center will accept undergraduates; 20 current undergraduates will be accepted into the department in January, and 40 freshman applicants will join them in fall of 2015. The New York State Education Department approved NYU's program last month, according to the New York Times. An MFA degree already exists through the NYU Game Center; its inaugural class graduated this past May.
Regardless of your own particular view of the video game industry -- devout gamer or steadfast believer that they're altering society -- the games themselves can be digital works of art. Some boast incredible graphics, creative self-contained worlds and intricate plot threads. The program appears to hone in on more than just playing games, and will examine the historical and cultural aspects of gaming -- although there will be "Play Labs," according to Fast Company, where students will “critically play” certain games.
“If you study history, if you study literature, if you study science and engineering, you’re not just studying for a job in that field, you’re using that as a structuring element to understand everything else,” Frank Lantz, director of the Game Center, told the Times.
He continued, explaining that the major will focus on the “the significance of game design as not only a potential career but as a way of thinking about the world.”
Other schools that offer such designing majors include the University of Southern California, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York and the University of Utah.
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