Tracy Fullerton is a professor and chair of the University of Southern California (USC) Interactive Media & Games Division of the School of Cinematic Arts, as well as director of the interdisciplinary USC Games program, a collaboration with the Viterbi School of Engineering that has its own publishing label, and the USC Game Innovation Lab.

Would you tell us more about the USC Games program and the university’s approach to teaching game design?

The USC Games program is designed to be a multidisciplinary environment with degrees in both the design and production of games and in the technology and programming of games. Our approach to games is as an expressive medium, and we bring students from across the fields of design, art, animation, sound, UX, and programming together in our classrooms to work collaboratively on their games, all with a focus on creating the best player experience possible. The faculty are all experts from industry and independent games, and so their mentorship is all very current and hands-on.

The major difference, I think, between our program and others, is that we began our program inside of a cinema school, so that from the get-go, we have been surrounded by colleagues who understand the potential of the medium to move players emotionally, and that training students as thoughtful media makers is at the core of what we do. We see games as an important part of cultural expression and we see our students as the future of what will be an even more influential media form than it is today. Our goal is to train them for that future.

Academia has an obvious role teaching the next generation of game makers, but what do you believe its role is when it comes to making games?

I think it is an important opportunity that we have in academia to publish games that might not be getting a voice elsewhere. We have always felt strongly about creating an inclusive community for our students and faculty so that they can make games that go beyond the traditional definitions. This opportunity to now publish those games, through a label that embodies those values, is what we’re focused on now. It’s one thing to say that students can just self-publish, which of course they can, it’s another thing to curate a label of important work that we can present and amplify as part of the research that we do here. I look forward to expanding the offerings of USC Games as we move forward, and as we have more resources to put behind the label.

I also hope to see other universities taking on that role of amplifying important work through publishing as well. Providing access for new, alternative voices and for experimental work to reach a wider public is part of what I see as the value of academic game development, and that, over time, will be part of a richer, more mature games industry.

 

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