The University of Texas at Austin’s Game Development and Design Program Ranks 2nd in Texas and 18th Nationwide in 2023

The Game Development and Design (GDAD) program at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) was ranked as one of the top game design schools in both Texas and the nation according to two reports by Animation Career Review in early 2023: Top 5 Game Design Schools and Colleges in Texas – 2023 College Rankings and Top 50 Game Design Schools and Colleges in the U.S. – 2023 Rankings. 

In its analysis of the program, Animation Career Review praised GDAD’s 93% employment rate within six months of graduation, as well as the opportunity to take a diverse range of courses, from storytelling and animation in the Radio-Television-Film (RTF) department, coding and gameplay engineering in the Computer Science (CS) department, and gaming-specific courses in the Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET) department. 

Launched in 2012 and expanded in 2020, the UT Game Development and Design program is one of UT’s largest interdisciplinary initiatives and is succeeding in achieving its goals — particularly in graduating career-ready designers and developers in the video game, AV/VR, and creative media industries in Texas and beyond. Students are frequently hired at top companies, including Zynga, Zenimax, and Riot Games, with many student internship opportunities leading to these job offers. 

Dr. Toprac, head of the GDAD program states, “At a top school like The University of Texas at Austin, it is no wonder that a joint program from some of its strongest departments would be ranked second in the state. As the 2023-2024 academic year kicks off, GDAD turns its eyes toward the #1 spot in Texas by building upon its already rich and immersive gaming program.”

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The Game Development and Design (GDAD) Program at the University of Texas at Austin is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program between the departments of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, Computer Science, and Radio-Television-Film. The program produces graduates ready to design, develop, and provide leadership for the exploding growth in game, metaverse applications, and creative media agencies and studios in Texas and around the world. For more information on the GDAD Program, please visit http://gamedev.utexas.edu.