Rice-Eccles Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, set against a stunning backdrop of mountains.
University of Utah
This article is part of CNBC’s Successful Cities series, which explores cities that have transformed into business hubs with an entrepreneurial spirit and attract capital, companies and employees.
Utah’s video game industry has become a powerful industry, growing more than 230 percent in the past decade, with revenue exceeding $2.3 billion last year.
And it’s not stopping: The market is expected to contribute an impressive $4.5 billion to the economy within five years, according to market research firm IBISWorld.
One of the key drivers behind the growth is the University of Utah’s cutting-edge video game program.
In a Salt Lake City classroom, students are immersed in learning about video games — not just playing them, but creating them, spurring an industry that has taken root on campus.
These are the people I want on my team.
Donald Mustard
Former Chief Creative Officer of Epic Games and co-founder of “Fortress Heroes”
The university has a rich history that includes industry luminaries Doug Bowser, president of Nintendo of America, and Nolan, founder of Atari and creator of the iconic game Pong ‧Nolan Bushnell.
Alumni of the school continue to create games, generating more than $2 billion in lifetime revenue, according to the university.
Michael Young, chairman of the gaming department at the University of Utah, said in an interview with CNBC’s “The City”: “There is just a large group of people who come to school here and graduate and become key players in the gaming industry.” “Success: Salt Lake City” will be released at ET Premieres on December 10 at 10pm.
upgrade
| Name | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Doug Bowser | President of Nintendo of America |
| Nolan Bushnell | Founder of Atari, founder of “Pong” |
| John Blackburn | Vice President and Studio Head, Warner Bros. Avalanche Studios, Head of Hogwarts Legacy |
| Ed Cattermole | Co-founder of Pixar and former president of Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| Richard Evans | Pioneer in video game artificial intelligence, best known for The Sims |
Young said the gaming program at the University of Utah started on a small scale within the computer science department before becoming a formal program.
It didn’t gain traction until 2008, when a group of students proposed a dedicated area of gaming research.
By 2010, the Entertainment Arts and Engineering program (known on campus as EAE) was established with a structured curriculum focused specifically on games and interactive entertainment.
In 2017, the EAE program launched a bachelor’s degree in games, marking an important step in its development. As of 2021, it has become the tenth largest major at the university, attracting approximately 1,200 undergraduates each year.
“Demand has skyrocketed,” Yang said.
in the princeton review Ranking of the Top Game Design Schools of 2024In 2023, the University of Utah’s undergraduate and graduate programs improved from 7th and 6th to 4th, respectively.
Today, the program attracts a global student body, with 72% of graduate students coming from outside Utah.
The university has committed $25 million to support further expansion of the program.
best selling games
John Blackburn, Vice President and Head of Studios, Avalanche Software, a division of Avalanche Software WB GamesThe University of Utah alumnus attributes the success of Hogwarts Legacy, the best-selling game of 2023, to a talented team in Salt Lake City that includes many graduates of the university.
The game generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year.
Photo illustration: Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
“There are probably at least 30 people here who come directly from the program,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn said the University of Utah’s contributions to the gaming industry can be traced back to its pioneering work in 3D graphics, including the creation of the first 3D graphics images and the development of early flight simulators by companies such as Evans & Sutherland.
“It really feeds into the local game scene,” Blackburn said. “So people are leaving these companies and starting gaming companies.”
Blackburn Co-Founder avalanche software First recognized for developing Mortal Kombat for the Super Nintendo and Genesis in 1995, it later earned a reputation working with games such as Cars and Toy Story 3. disney.
In 2017, Cary, North Carolina-based Epic Games launched Fortress Heroes, one of the most popular games in the world with more than 500 million registered users.
Teams from around the world contributed to the game’s creation, including some in Salt Lake City, where former Epic chief creative officer and game co-founder Donald Mustard is based.
“The University of Utah and Brigham Young University and some of the other schools in Utah have done a really good job building relationships with developers in the area,” Mustard said.
He also highlighted Utah’s unique approach to education: “While some of these students are in school, they have to make their own video games. It’s a very unique set of skills that a lot of people don’t have.”
“Those are the guys I want on my team,” Mustard said.
