Overview

Key Features

The Game Design program from New York University begins with a highly structured first semester, but quickly becomes more flexible so that you can design and define your own course of study.

The NYU Game Center is dedicated to the exploration of games as a cultural form and game design as creative practice. Our approach to the study of games is based on a simple idea: games matter. Just like other cultural forms – music, film, literature, painting, dance, theater – games are valuable for their own sake. Games are worth studying, not merely as artifacts of advanced digital technology, or for their potential to educate, or as products within a thriving global industry, but in and of themselves, as experiences that entertain us, move us, explore complex topics, communicate profound ideas, and illuminate elusive truths about ourselves, the world around us, and each other.

The Game Center is the Department of Game Design at the Tisch School of the Arts. Our mission is to graduate the next generation of game designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and critics, and to advance the field of games by creating a context for advanced scholarship and groundbreaking work. The Game Center’s students, both undergraduates and graduates, are drawn from diverse disciplines including computer programming, visual art, sound and audio, animation, writing, architecture, english, law, history, all joined together by the central discipline of game design.

Careers

Graduates of the Game Center are AI engineers, studio founders, community managers, curators, festival organizers, independent game developers. They have received publishing deals with Microsoft, funding from Indie Fund, and features in the iOS store. A degree from the NYU Game Center doesn’t just teach you to create games, it teaches you to create the future of games.

Programme Structure

Courses include:

Game Design

Game Production

Game Studies

Game History

Studio Courses

Thesis

Play Labs

Key information

Duration

Full-time
- 24 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2027-09-03 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-12-01 00:00:00

Language

English

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IELTS

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Credits

60 SCH

Delivered

On Campus

Campus Location

New York City, United States

Disciplines

Game Design View 47 other Masters in Game Design in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

Duolingo English Test

125

Take A Free Practice Test!

TOEFL^® IBT

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PTE Academic

Schedule a PTE test!

IELTS

Prepare for Your English Test

Cathoven AI IELTS Preparation

Learn your IELTS Score

AI-powered IELTS feedback. Clear, actionable, and tailored to boost your writing & speaking score. No credit card or upfront payment required.

Trusted by 300k learners
98 accuracy using real exam data
4.9/5 student rating

Other requirements

General requirements

We are seeking passionate and talented applicants for our Game Design MFA. Applicants may come from a wide range of professional, personal, and educational backgrounds. Professional game experience is not required, although the successful applicant will need to demonstrate a high level of talent, creative spirit and competence in one or more areas relating to game design, game production, and game scholarship. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college is required.
Your official undergraduate transcript(s)
Two letters of recommendation
A 1-page resume
A personal statement of no more than 2 pages
A critical analysis of any game, of no more than 1 page, in PDF format
One or two projects, which could include digital games, non-digital games, game-related websites, visual designs, writings about games, or other creative projects
A 1-page design statement

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are shown in and the most likely applicable fee is shown based on your nationality.

International Applies to you

Applies to you

Non-residents

76646 USD / year

≈ 76646 USD / year
Out-of-State

76646 USD / year

≈ 76646 USD / year
Domestic

Applies to you

In-State

76646 USD / year

≈ 76646 USD / year

Living costs

New York City

United States

1819 - 3968 USD / month

The living costs include the total expenses per month, covering accommodation, public transportation, utilities (electricity, internet), books and groceries.

Financing

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Funding

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

Win a €10000 Scholarship! Deadline: 30 June 2020

Embark on your journey with the Studyportals Scholarship! We're giving away a total of 20,000 euros to help you achieve your dream of studying abroad.

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find Master's scholarship opportunities for Game Design.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

On this page

About

Overview

Key Features

Programme Structure

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Prepare for Your English Test

Credits

Delivered

Campus Location

Disciplines

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Prepare for Your English Test

Other requirements

General requirements

Tuition Fees

International Applies to you

Domestic

Living costs

New York City

Financing

Funding

Need help with your student visa?

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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