| Ranking | School | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Methodist University | Dallas |
| 2 | University of Texas at Austin | Austin |
| 3 | Texas A&M University | College Station |
| 4 | University of Texas at Dallas | Dallas |
| 5 | Texas A&M University-Victoria | Victoria |
Our 2026 ranking of the top game design school programs in Texas. For an explanation of the ranking criteria, click here.
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is home to SMU Guildhall. Housing more than 100 advanced level courses, the Guildhall oversees the Master of Interactive Technology (M.I.T.) program; the Art BFA/ Digital Game Development M.I.T. program; the new Game Development BA program; and a Digital Game Development certificate (DGDC). The M.I.T. is one of the few programs of its kind to offer specializations in all four areas of game development—Art Creation, Level Design, Production, and Programming.
Other programs for game designers are part of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering and Meadows School of the Arts. Students can take courses from both schools and SMU Guildhall. Programs include the Creative Computing BA; the Creative Computing minor; and the Computer Science BS with a Creative Computing minor.
Across programs, students benefit from partnerships with more than 350 studios. Examples include Riot Games, Disney Interactive, Epic Games, Unity, Blizzard Entertainment, Insomniac Games, Bethesda, Bungie, and Gameloft. Other program highlights include mentorship programs; professional internships; immersive workshops; guest speakers; professional development coursework; portfolio review sessions; and career fairs.
All students have the opportunity to create several industry ready games as the culminating experience for the programs. Graduates have been hired at places such as Insomniac Games, Electronic Arts (EA), Microsoft, Ubisoft, Google, Obsidian Entertainment, Bungie, Sony, BioWare, Samsung, and Gearbox Software. Program alumni have worked on titles such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, League of Legends, Game of Thrones, Assassins Creed, Fortnite, Guitar Hero, Doom, God of War, and Diablo.
The University of Texas at Austin (UT) houses the UT Game Development and Design Program (GDAD), which provides several paths to study games. Options include the Computer Science BS (CS BS) with a Game Development concentration; the Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET) BS with a Game Design focus; a CS MS; and a Five-Year CS BS/CS MS. Launched in 2020, the GDAD is a partnership between the Department of Computer Science (CS); the Department of Radio-Television-Film (RTF); the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET); and the Texas Immersive Institute (TXI).
In addition to learning how to build games and immersive experiences, all students have the opportunity to work with industry studios and EGaDS!—UT’s game development student organization. Examples of industry partners include Gensler Digital Experience Design; Dell Experience Innovation Group; and ILMxLAB. Internship opportunities are also part of the program as well as independent study and the Game Development Capstone.
Graduates can be found at places such as Epic Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts (EA), Riot Games, NVIDIA, Rockstar Games, Ubisoft, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Microsoft, HP, BioWare, Apple, Disney, 2K Games, Aspyr Media, Google, IBM, Amazon, HP, Scientific Games, Zynga, and TikTok.
The College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts (PVFA) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) provides several paths to study game design. Options include the Visualization BS (VIZ BS) with a Game Development emphasis; a VIZ MS with an emphasis in Gaming; the VIZ MFA with a Gaming emphasis; a BA in Performance and Visual Studies with an emphasis in Media Studies (Film, TV and Video Games); the Visual Computing and Interactive Media PhD with a Game Design and Development emphasis; and a Game Design and Development minor.
Across programs, students have the opportunity to complete a paid internship and participate in organizations and events such as Texas Aggie Game Developers (TAGD); Women in Animation; the VIZ Industry Fair (VIF); and the TAMU SIGGRAPH Student Chapter. Programs also take place in a studio environment with opportunities to collaborate on projects across emphasis areas.
The Visualization BS culminates with the Capstone Studio course. VIZ MS students will complete a thesis or capstone project. The VIZ MFA culminates with a portfolio and exhibition. To date, PVFA alumni have worked on over 400 films produced by more than 20 studios. Graduates can be found at places such as Epic Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Riot Games, Electronic Arts (EA), DreamWorks, Lucasfilm, Disney Animation, Microsoft, Sony, Pixar, Ubisoft, Reel FX, and Aspyr Media.
The Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology at University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas or UTD) is a Houdini Certified School that houses several paths to study games. Options include an Animation and Games BA; the Media Arts and Design (MAD) BA with a concentration in Emerging Media Arts (EMA); and Game Development MFA.
The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science houses a flexible, multidisciplinary Computer Science MS with opportunities to focus in subfields such as Computer Graphics, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Programming Languages. Students in all programs may also study games through elective requirements. Depending on the program, students may complete up to 30 elective credit hours.
Across programs, students have access to one of the nation’s largest project design studios—the Jonsson School facility. Other labs and studios include the Game Lab; Animation Lab; Render Farm; 3D Studio; CG Animation Lab; The Studio for Mediating Play; Games and Media Library; Mixed Media Lab; experimenta.l.; Games Research Lab; Escape Pod Studio; VAST Lab; Motion Capture Studio; Narrative Systems Research Lab; Surround Studio; and MoGraph Lab. Students also have opportunities to compete an internship, study abroad experience, or other experiential learning activities.
Programs culminate with a final project (capstone), thesis, portfolio, and/or presentation. UT Dallas Games and MAD graduates are routinely hired at places such as Epic Games, Disney, Pixar, BioWare, Lockheed Martin, Blizzard Entertainment, DreamWorks, Electronic Arts (EA), Unity, Gearbox Software, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Google, Amazon, RTX, Microsoft, Apple, Reel FX, and id Software.
Texas A&M University-Victoria (formerly University of Houston-Victoria) houses the College of Natural and Applied Science. Within the college is a Digital Gaming and Simulation BS (DGS BS) program that requires 30 semester hours in the major. Course examples include 3D Modeling; Game Engines; Game AI and Behavioral Modeling; Advanced Leveling; and Gaming Mathematics for Non-Programmer.
Other program highlights include electives such as Game Internship, Virtual Reality, Art for Gaming, and Multimedia; access to state-of-the-art production facilities; and the Senior Project, where students will work in interdisciplinary teams to create a game or other interactive work.
DGS BS alumni, and others in the Texas A&M system, can be found at places such as Tencent Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Nickelodeon, Epic Games, Disney, SideFX, Amazon, Gearbox Software, Arkadium Games, Cloud Imperium Games, Brazen Animation, and Avalanche Studios Group.
