5 Questions: CEHC’s New Game Design and Development Concentration

ALBANY, N.Y. (Aug. 31, 2021) — The College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) is offering a new concentration in Game Design and Development that will be available to Informatics undergraduate students next semester.

The new concentration comes with growing interest around the competitive video gaming industry on campus. Through the support of President Rodríguez and the Division of Student Affairs, UAlbany launched an official collegiate eSports team in Fall 2019. The team plays in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and has recruited more than 100 students representing a variety of majors and backgrounds.

The gaming industry is growing in the Capital Region too, according to a survey released earlier this year by the Center for Economic Growth. As of February, Albany’s digital gaming cluster consisted of 24 studios, including seven large (more than 15 workers) and 17 indie (under 15 workers). Together they have 507 workers, up from 352 in 2018 and 455 in 2019.

We caught up with Michael Leczinsky, CEHC professor of practice and UAlbany eSports program director, to discuss the new Game Design and Development concentration and the future of the industry.

What can students expect from the Game Design and Development concentration?

This concentration is designed to provide students with a pathway to a wide variety of careers in the digital gaming industry. Not only will they develop a comprehensive overview of the industry, but also create hands-on projects utilizing industry standard tools and employ practices modeled on those found at leading design and development studios.

It also offers students the opportunity to collaborate with faculty, researchers, organizations and companies who utilize “serious games” for training and simulation.

How does this new academic offering add to CEHC’s curriculum and overall goals?

With this new offering, our Informatics program has now grown to a total of seven concentrations including: Interactive User Experience, Cybersecurity, Social Media, Data Analytics, Software Development, Information Technology and Game Design and Development. All students in CEHC are provided with experiential learning opportunities to apply what they are learning in the classroom to real-world scenarios.

What courses will you be teaching in this space?

In addition to a comprehensive course of study in Informatics, students concentrating in Game Design and Development will be required to complete three core courses:

• CINF 171: eSports & the Digital Gaming Ecosystem – students will study the history of gaming and learn to create professional broadcasts for popular streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.
• CINF 363: Digital Design – students will study how computers influence the world of design and utilize software like the Adobe suite to create digital art, audio, video and other multimedia assets based on best practices in the field.
• CINF 371: Digital Game Design and Development 1 – students will experience the entire game design and development pipeline as they create playable prototypes using a variety of game engines and software development environments. Students will also learn how to distribute their projects on a variety of app/game store platforms.

Students will also pick an elective to complete their concentration, deepening their understanding and practice within the field.

What types of careers can students pursue with a degree in this discipline?

The digital gaming industry comprises programmers and professionals across a wide variety of disciplines across the STEM/STEAM ecosystem.

In addition to open positions across the country and internationally, companies are hiring locally. The Capital Region’s digital gaming cluster now includes more than 500 professionals who work on some of the most popular games in the world. The region is home to a number of large studios including Vicarious Visions, Velan Studios, PUBG MadGlory and WB Games New York, as well as multiple other companies providing services to the digital gaming industry.

What is the future of competitive video gaming?

It is hard to imagine the gaming industry not continuing to grow, especially as technology and opportunities in this space advance. Emerging technologies such as 5G, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning and hardware/software advancements will create new segments of the industry that have never before existed. This, coupled with the current popularity of competitive gaming, social/casual gaming and serious gaming for simulation and training on an international level, has poised UAlbany for success by providing opportunities to be a part of this emerging area.