Award-winning, internationally top-ranked graduate video game development education program, recognized as one of the best game design programs in the world.
Our 1000+ alumni have worked at 350+ game studios & tech companies worldwide. Play our games on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/developer/smuguildhall
We enroll every August. Apply online at: https://www.smu.edu/Guildhall/Admissions/ApplyNow
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @smuguildhall
05/21/2025
Congrats to the development team at id Software on their recent launch of "Doom: The Dark Ages", including Guildhall alumni: Evan Eubanks (Director of Game Technology); Matt Grabowski (Associate Gameplay Designer); Ryan Moncrief (Combat Designer); Eliana Gargiulo (Associate Gameplay Programmer); Robert Hicks (AI Programmer); Tim Herrmann (AI Programmer); Weylan Wang (Associate Technical & Rigging Artist); Danni Liang (Character/Prop Artist).
05/19/2025
A few snaps from the 2025 Diploma Ceremony and Reception for the SMU Guildhall graduate program for game development. More photos to come!
Congratulations, 2025 graduates 🎉🎓 You did it! Your SMU Guildhall faculty and staff are so proud of all you accomplished in your time here. Onward and upward! Keep in touch, we’d love to learn about all you do from here. 🎮
05/09/2025
Congrats to our 2025 Master’s of Interactive Technology graduating candidates who presented their Thesis work today at our annual Thesis Exhibition, and thank you to all of our guests who attended! We thoroughly enjoyed learning about and sharing all of these inspiring research and development projects. Check out our 2025 Catalog to learn more about these projects as well as other graduating students’ Directed Focus Studies and the C33 Team Games: https://joom.ag/1Ysd
05/08/2025
Our 2025 Catalog featuring the game development work of our graduating candidates is now live. The catalog includes students' independent Theses and Directed Focus Studies, as well as Cohort 33's published Team Games. Check it out!
2025 SMU Guildhall Graduate Catalog A compilation of SMU Guildhall's 2025 graduate students' work in game development including individual Master's Thesis and Directed Focus Study projects, as well as C33 capstone team games
04/29/2025
Our graduating Master's students will exhibit their Thesis work in game development on May 9th from 11am-2:30pm. Come visit us to see the inspiring work they have completed in game art, design, production, programming, applied technologies, and gamification. RSVP: conta.cc/4cIdQRD
04/22/2025
Be our guest! SMU Guildhall invites you to our 2025 Master's Thesis Exhibition on May 9th from 11am-2:30pm. This annual showcase features the fascinating game development work in Art Creation, Level Design, Production, and Programming from our graduating Master's students. RSVP: https://conta.cc/4cIdQRD
Join us: 2025 Game Development Student Thesis Exhibition Email from SMU Guildhall RSVP for SMU Guildhall's 2025 Thesis Exhibition     YOU'RE INVITED! 2025 Thesis Exhibition   Be our guest! SMU Guildhall invites you to our 2025 Master's Thesis Exhibition, a
04/11/2025
Thank you to everyone who attended our Career Day! Your insight is so valuable for our graduating students.
04/06/2025
premiers now: Watch on Youtube as Daniel Albu sits down with our Director, Gary Brubaker, to explore his journey from NASA to major game studios including LucasArts to SMU. Recount how an early fascination with games would lead to hacking mainframes to play them, and then to building a Lunar Lander clone on the Apple II. Gary shares insights on the evolution of game engines, the intersection of education and game development, and what it means to prepare the next generation of game creators.
A Conversation with Gary Brubaker (The Dig / Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine / SMU Guildhall) Daniel Albu sits down with Gary Brubaker to explore his journey from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to leading SMU Guildhall, one of the top graduate game ...
04/05/2025
Let the 24-Hour Countdown begin! At 2pm CT Sunday, a new Tech Talk with Daniel Albu will premier, featuring our Director, Gary Brubaker. Tune in to listen as they explore Gary's journey from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to creating influential titles at LucasArts, St******nt Studios and Atari/Paradigm, and to then being a professor and Director here at SMU Guildhall. Discover how SMU Guildhall keeps our curriculum aligned with the rapid evolution of the games industry, as well as the broader initiatives and efforts that define our program’s approach to game development education.
A Conversation with Gary Brubaker (The Dig / Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine / SMU Guildhall) Daniel Albu sits down with Gary Brubaker to explore his journey from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to leading SMU Guildhall, one of the top graduate game ...
04/02/2025
Inspired by our recent game releases, Mirrored Phantoms and IMVI? Do you dream of a career making games like these? Become a Game Changer with SMU Guildhall's Master's-level program for Game Development! Our FINAL application deadline for Fall 2025 enrollment is April 15. https://www.smu.edu/guildhall/admissions/admission-requirements
03/28/2025
SMU Guildhall is dedicated to ensuring our students are studio-ready on Day 1 post-graduation, through rigorous curriculum that is iteratively designed with active industry collaboration. Curious about what past graduates have thought? Check out our Testimonials page! https://www.smu.edu/guildhall/about/testimonials
Steven Chew, Cohort 6, remarked: “Guildhall was an investment that paid off by giving me the opportunity to work at a AAA studio. Compared to my Bachelor’s, which emphasized theory, Guildhall’s curriculum is hands-on and immediately useful in the field. Practically everything that I learned at the Guildhall is applicable out in the field — individual and team projects, time and scope management, and level design principles that carry forward regardless of the type of game you make. It taught me the importance of scope, robustness, and accountability. The feedback/iteration process with all level design professors was invaluable to improving my skills as a designer. This process is used all the time in the industry, and learning to give/take criticisms and feedback is vital.”
Scroll through to read more alumni thoughts, and find many more testimonials on our website.
The Guildhall was established in 2003 as a premier graduate-level video game development education program in the United States. It was created at the request of the game development industry to train its future leaders.
With master’s degree and professional certificate programs in game development, we turn a passion for gaming into a viable and fulfilling career. Students select the path of game development they want to pursue — Art, Design, Production, or Programming — and develop their skills in specialization-specific classes as well as interdisciplinary Team Game Production, in which they will make 3+ games during their time with the Guildhall. Students’ independent research informs Master’s Theses and Directed Focus Studies that pursue passion projects, analyze current industry trends, and solve critical issues.
With SMU Guildhall’s low student-to-faculty ratio, you’ll learn from and be mentored by our faculty of successful game developers, who have worked with over 40 leading game studios including: Activision/Blizzard, Atari, Day 1, Electronic Arts, Gearbox, id, LucasArts, Microsoft, Oculus, Origin Systems, Playful, Red Storm, Retro, Robot, Rovio, Sega, Sony, Terminal Reality, Ubisoft,Valve, and many more. Full-time faculty have worked on more than 290 professional games across three decades.
Our game development education tops the charts. This is evident not only by our consistent high rankings among the top graduate game design programs across the world, but also by our accomplished faculty, award-winning student games, and 770+ in-demand alumni who have worked at 270+ studios worldwide.