News & Events
GPM Alumni Spotlight: Reed, Class of 2021
Reed graduated from UC Santa Cruz's Games and Playable Media MS Program in 2021, and currently works as a Release Manager at Bandai Namco Entertainment America. We had a chance to catch up with Reed to learn how their Master's degree has re-launched their Games...
Serious Games Prof. Magy Seif-El-Nasr Delivers Keynote Address at SBGames 2021
Prof. Magy Seif El-Nasr, Vice Chair of UCSC's Serious Games MS program, delivered the keynote address at SBGames 2021 - the Brazilian Symposium on Computer Games and Digital Entertainment. This event is the main scientific and pioneer conference on Games and Digital...
GPM Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month Spotlighting Alum Rogelio Espinoza of EYES OUT
UC Santa Cruz Games and Playable Media (GPM) interviewed recent alum, Rogelio Espinoza, to learn how his games career has developed since graduating from the GPM program. Espinoza shared some great advice for aspiring game developers, and provided invaluable insight...
Serious Games Prof. Magy Seif El-Nasr Publishes Definitive Book on Game Data Science
Game Data Science, the definitive book on deriving insights from game data, launches today. Published by Oxford University Press, the book is available for purchase on Amazon. Written by Prof. Magy Seif El-Nasr, with collaborators Trong-Huy Nguyen Dinh, Alessandro...
Profs. Seif El-Nasr and Carstensdottir Awarded $250,000 to Study Resilience Using ARGs
The James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF) awarded Magy Seif El-Nasr, Serious Games Vice-Chair, and Elin Carstensdottir, Assistant Professor of Games and Playable Media, a $250,000 grant to study resilience through the use of virtual environments. Their teams will...
GPM MS Featured on Waypoint Presents
Students from the GPM MS were the focus of the latest episode of Waypoint Presents, a documentary series about games and culture currently airing on Disney XD. The episode offers a unique insight into our program and the lives of our students as they...
GPM Faculty Discuss Future Trends at Indiecade
Many videogames are designed to draw the player ever deeper into the world of the game. At Katherine Isbister's Social Emotional Technology Lab at UC Santa Cruz, however, researchers are interested in games that draw players' attention to the world around...
CtrlShift named best “sleeper hit” of E3 by Ars Technica
We are pleased to announce that student game CtrlShift was named "sleeper hit" of last week's E3 conference by the editors of Ars Technica. You can watch the announcement on Ars Technica's website. CtrlShift, as well as undergraduate game Phantom Jump,...
Student Game Ulama Now Available on Steam
Ulama: Arena of the Gods, a thesis game developed by Pedro Cori, Alexander Formoso, and Cong Liu, is now available to purchase on Steam Early Access. The game was greenlit by the Steam community in just 15 days through Valve's Steam Greenlight service. The gameplay...
Team Trainwreck Games Wins Game Jam Competition at E3
Trainwreck Games, consisting of grad students Pedro Cori, Alexander Formoso, and Cong Liu, recently won $10,000 as the winner of the Social Connection GameJam, a game design competition sponsored by the AARP and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). The...