SMU Guildhall Academics

Program Overview

We merge solid academics with practical, real-world products

SMU Guildhall's highly ranked graduate-level game development education equips the next generation of game creators with the technical skills and instincts required to drive the evolution of gaming. Our more than 100 graduate game development courses are modeled after the style and pace of the industry and taught by a faculty of industry veterans.

We currently offer two full-time, 2-year game development programs:

Master of Interactive Technology (MIT) in Digital Game Development
Professional Certificate in Digital Game Development

What Will You Study?

Choose your game development track

SMU Guildhall utilizes a cohort model, in which each admitted cycle of students will move together through the program in lockstep, with each course being a pre-requisite for the next in the sequence. Students will:

Choose a specialization area of study:

- Art Creation
- Level Design
- Production (only open to Master's track students)
- Software Development (Programming)

Choose a program track:

Master of Interactive Technology (MIT) in Digital Game Development
(or) Professional Certificate in Digital Game Development

Both are full-time, two-year programs that consist of a specified, focused course sequence aligned with your specialization—including majors, minors, directed focus studies, special topics courses, and Team Game Production courses. The primary difference is that the MIT degree will also include a Master’s thesis artifact research study.

Learn more about SMU Guildhall's curriculum

The SMU Guildhall Curriculum

Teamwork and specialized learning are at the heart of our curriculum

smu guildhall academics team huddle

Our combined lectures, labs, and studios prepare students for the video game industry with studies in game development, industry trends, leadership, teamwork, professional development, and ethics.

The courses we offer combine both independent work and team-centric collaborative work. Students develop their skills and instincts in specialization-specific classes while completing independent work and research to inform Master’s theses and Directed Focus Studies, and then come together to apply their specialized skills to make games together.

Each student takes the following courses:

4 cross-disciplinary Team Game Production courses
1 professional development course
Specialization-specific course sequence (9 courses for Production, and 11 courses for Art, Level Design, and Software Development)
1 ethics course
4 courses that focus on research to advance each of the specialization specific fields in game development (Master's students only)

Learn more about our student work and games

Sample schedule

Gain Real-World Experience Before You Graduate

SMU Guildhall offers many opportunities for experiential learning

Our curriculum is interdisciplinary in thought and action, designed to allow students to “learn it, live it, then lead it” in real-world style, pace, and environment.

In Team Game Production courses, students work in cross-disciplinary teams to develop three or more professional-grade 2D and 3D games in the style and pace of the industry. These games have won many awards, and several have gone on to be further developed and published post-graduation.

In addition, many important research initiatives take place annually between SMU Guildhall faculty, students, and collaborative teams. These opportunities for research in game design have been facilitated with faculty via various grants, licenses and technologies over the years from national institutes and commissions, independent companies, educational institutions, game studios, and more.

Play our student-made games

Learn more about SMU Guildhall research

Where can a SMU Guildhall degree take you?

Turn your passion into a dream profession

Our programs prepare you successful career paths like:

Creating the next big console, PC, mobile, or VR/AR/MR game
Developing gamification and tech platforms for education, business, medicine, or military
UX, motion capture, animation, marketing, interactive media, or digital art and design
And more!

Beyond our professional development coursework, we provide Career Preparation Services including mentorship programs, resume and portfolio reviews, an annual Career Fair, special topics presentations by developers and studios, and more — all with direct interfacing between students and real professionals in the industry. These services don't end when you graduate either; we offer ongoing support for all of our alumni.

Learn More About SMU Guildhall Career Services

Why SMU Guildhall?

Highly Ranked & Accredited

Our academic programs have been consistently annually ranked amongst the world's best graduate programs for game development.

Southern Methodist University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Baccalaureate, Master's, Professional, and Doctoral degrees. Southern Methodist University is also an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

Industry Pioneers

We were one of the first programs in the United States to be developed for game development education. We were created at the specific request of gaming industry leaders to shape the games industry, and our programs and class offerings have been built around that mission by employing world-class educators and modeling present-day industry methods in our courses.

To this day, we still remain the only masters game design program to offer all four of the major specializations in the game industry.

Historical Milestones & Notables

Learn more about SMU Guildhall's Differentiators

Contact Us

Want to know more about SMU Guildhall's academic programs?

Contact the Director's Office

Contact SMU Guildhall Admissions

Ready to Get Started?

Apply to SMU Guildhall today

Hopeful applicants should visit our Application Checklist to prepare and follow our steps to apply. This will include submitting your application form, a video essay, a specialization-specific portfolio, transcripts, test scores, and references. SMU Guildhall utilizes rolling admission dates in order to allow applicants ample time to work on their portfolio submissions.

View our upcoming application deadlines

Apply Now

Course Catalog

An in-depth look at our classes, programs, and degree specifications

View Course Catalog

“The Guildhall did a tremendous job in preparing me for my position and helping me break into the industry. ”

Dallas Stowasser (C5 )

Software Engineer specializing in VR and Game Development, previously Game Programmer/Lead Engineer at Virtuix

“Looking at the other schools and available options, SMU Guildhall seemed to be head and shoulders above the rest. The staff experience in the industry, the success rate of placement for students graduating, the focus on working with a team to simulate game development environments and the commitment to really develop and focus my creativity. All of that combined made it such an obvious choice. I knew I had to do whatever it took to get in... SMU Guildhall prepared me for the industry in every way possible. Putting students in an environment that was mimicking how studios worked really showed me how to work with a team of multiple disciplines. How to properly scope a level, or a project in general, was incredibly important. It prepared me for the inevitable crunch period that you see, but also how to best avoid the crunch. I found myself incredibly prepared and able to hit the ground running wherever I went. People have remarked over the years at how well prepared students are from The Guildhall. I’ve found that to be true. There are so many success stories about graduates in the industry and it’s really cool. It's had a huge impact. Huge. I would have likely had been working in another field had it not been for The Guildhall. It was a pivotal point in my life and I am so incredibly happy that this is the path I took. I feel blessed to have been able to see it from so close to the beginning, and thankful that it has impacted my life in such a great way. ”

Roy Orr (C4 )

Creative Director & Co-Founder at Fugitive Games

“The Guildhall experience is authentic. The Team Game Projects are incredible and invaluable rehearsal for the professional industry. Team structure, project management, and many other team dynamics learned during those experiences have become permanent and ever reliable references on a daily basis in my work. I still look back with a debt of gratitude to my wonderful and insightful instructors. Their instructions and advice give me answers when others are stuck with questions, and their experiences prove as great examples and models of both how to and how not to do things. No other program of its kind properly prepares students for working in the kind of structure and team dynamics that exist out here in 'the real world.' The team game projects are PRICELESS learning experiences. The Guildhall was the greatest academic decision I ever made and was worth every penny of tuition, every drop of sweat and all three nervous breakdowns. I loved every minute of it, and it's gotten me the career I dreamed of since I was a small child. Cheesy, yes, but totally true. Not a day goes by where I don't find myself falling back on or referencing things that were directly taught to me while at the Guildhall. ”

Kale Menges (C5 )

Concept/2D Artist at Darkside Games