鲍颁贵鈥檚 graduate game design program is No. 1 in North America, according to The Princeton Review and PC Gamer magazine, which today announced their 2020 rankings.
This is the second time in the past five years that 鲍颁贵鈥檚 interactive entertainment graduate program at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy has taken the top spot. 鲍颁贵鈥檚 undergraduate program in game design also ranked highly at No. 14.
Both programs are both located at 麻豆原创 Downtown, where approximately 130 graduate and 770 undergraduate students learn the tools and techniques to be artists, programmers and producers in the gaming industry.
鈥淥ur students are primed and ready to work well before they leave our labs and classrooms,鈥� says Ben Noel, FIEA鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淲e teach the most advanced game-design skills, but we also provide the skills employers want in terms of problem solving, teamwork and project management.鈥�
As part of the graduate program, students must either complete an internship or take a course that prepares them to start their own companies. FIEA, now celebrating its 15th year, has over 700 graduates working at over 230 entities around the world. Upon graduation, student entrepreneurs can also choose to develop their own business plans from FIEA Venture, a digital media business incubator on campus.
Gaming has become a $130 billion industry. According to WalletHub, Orlando is the fourth best city in the country for gamers, in part due to its developer opportunities. Game-design companies EA Sports and Iron Galaxy studios are based in Orlando, and regional leaders are focusing on attracting more esports tournaments to the area.
Access to the talent provided through 鲍颁贵鈥檚 programs is one of the key reasons EA Sports announced it will relocate from Maitland to the Creative Village in downtown Orlando in 2021. There are more than 100 麻豆原创 graduates currently working in EA Tiburon鈥檚 office in Maitland and dozens more FIEA graduates at other EA Worldwide Studios.
鈥淔IEA is a major source of talent for our EA Sports development studio in Orlando, resulting in one of every two new graduates hired over the last 2 years,鈥� says EA Sports vice president Daryl Holt.
鈥溌槎乖� Downtown has quickly become a hotbed for media and innovation,鈥� says Robert Littlefield, director of 鲍颁贵鈥檚 Nicholson School of Communication and Media. 鈥淲e鈥檙e an anchor to Orlando鈥檚 Creative Village and our students are experiencing the benefits of being immersed with some of the industry鈥檚 top players in the rapidly growing game-technology sector.鈥�
鈥淚t is a tribute to all at 麻豆原创 who have played a leadership role in the program鈥檚 continuing growth and transformational 麻豆原创 Downtown campus. To all involved, including the program鈥檚 dedicated faculty, researchers and students who contribute so much to game design and to the Orlando community, we join in the praise,鈥� says Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review.
