The Change Mariner

Electronic Arts Funds New Video Game School at USC

Game Girl Advance.com:
It had to happen. Now that the game industry is as big as the film industry, it looks like college graduates will be thinking about going to game school instead of film school. - n. wada

"The Wall Street Journal has this article (link via Evil Avatar) reporting that Electronic Arts is donating $8M to the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. This money will be used to create a 3-year master's degree in "videogame design," and fund an endowed faculty chair. The program is set to begin in August, accepting fewer than 15 students.

EA rarely hires more than one graduate of any school's graduating class per year, and thus probably has a vested interest generating more low-cost entry level employees who are better prepared for the sort of working environment found in the game industry. USC's proximity to the new EALA studio probably also factors in.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate any information on the content of the program, but I'd wager that EA would be looking to focus more on the ability to work long hours on hard deadlines for extended periods of time, and how to deal with group projects using many different skill sets, rather than ludology theory. EA's own private Digipen? My gut tells me otherwise, but we'll have to wait and see."