For the third year in a row, The Princeton Review has named USC the top school in the nation for studying video game design for both undergraduate and graduate programs. USC has led the category every year since the list debuted in 2010.

"USC comes out on top because of our focus on the artistry of game design," said Tracy Fullerton, chair of the Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair of Interactive Entertainment and director of the USC Game Innovation Lab. "Our faculty and students see beyond the trappings of technology and we are constantly driving the form forward."

The USC Games program is a joint effort between the Interactive Media Division (IMD) at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) and the Department of Computer Science at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

“I believe [video games] will become the 9th Art,” said IMD Graduate and game designer Jenova Chen ’06. “It will become ubiquitous with a full spectrum of emotional experiences beloved by all of us. By working on team projects at the IMD, I created the student game Cloud, which is a monumental project in my career.”

USC Games graduates have worked on some of the world’s most popular games, including the Activision juggernaut Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which broke sales records last year to become the top-selling video game in history.

“This is wonderful news for our students.  We developed our joint games courses to be the best simulation of what a job in the video game industry is like and it’s paid off for our graduates,” said Michael Zyda, Professor of Computer Science and Director of USC’s GamePipe Laboratory.

In addition to producing blockbusters, IMD graduates have left an unparalleled mark in the world of indie video games including the hits Flower, fl0w and Journey.

To read the USA Today coverage, please visit HERE.