By Benjamin Pola

The USC Games Expo, the world's largest university-sponsored gaming and e-sports event, returned to USC on May 7, 2024. Hosted by USC Games, a collaboration between the USC School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media and Games Division and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science, the Expo showcases the leading game design program in the nation.

The Expo commenced with the highly anticipated annual Advance Games Project (AGP) Spotlight Show, highlighting the top 10 games from USC Games' capstone course. This year, Lydia Bottegoni, Vice President of Franchise and Story Development at Blizzard Entertainment, and Cullen Sweet, Head of North American Operations at Seasun Games, added excitement by offering valuable insights and feedback to students presenting their games to a packed audience at Norris Theatre.

Drawing on her previous experience in Film and Television, Bottegoni provided valuable perspectives on her career path, concluding her keynote with a resonant message aimed specifically at the aspiring gaming students in the audience: “I’m so excited for you. This is so amazing, that you guys have the benefit of being here at the right place, at the right time. You all are pursuing a career that relies heavily on tech advancement at t time when the world is about to experience probably the most semic shift in technology that we’ve ever experienced, and you all get to take advantage of that!” 

Following the AGP Spotlight Show, attendees made their way to the SCA complex to explore over 60 games created by USC students, in addition to Seasun Games’ latest release, Mecha BREAK which debut in early December 2023. 

For more about the games from this year’s Expo, visit: https://www.uscgamesexpo.com/2024-expo-games