Share your contact information with us to stay up to date on the latest happenings in the Gaming Pathways Program, the public option for a career in digital game design. Check out our FAQ below for more details, and if you have any further questions or want to opt-in to updates, fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page.

FAQ

When will students be able to enroll in the Digital Game Development Degree (Gaming Pathways) at CCNY?
The Digital Game Development Degree is officially slated to arrive during the Fall 2025 academic semester. After this point, it will become available for interested students to select on the CUNY App when applying to The City College of New York.

Who is eligible to apply for the Digital Game Development Degree?
Graduating high school seniors and transfer students are eligible to apply, regardless of their game design experience. Interested applicants must meet CUNY’s GPA requirements and maintain a good academic standing in order to be considered for City College’s undergraduate admissions. Introductory classes for the Digital Game Development Degree are geared towards beginners with a full curriculum focus on teaching students the skills and software needed to develop digital games from scratch.

Will I need a portfolio or personal statement to apply to the Digital Game Development Degree?
No. At this point in time, it is not required for students to submit a portfolio or personal statement to apply for the Digital Game Development Degree.

What courses will I have to take for the Digital Game Development Degree?
The Digital Game Development Degree is structured as a 4-Year curriculum that awards students with a Bachelor of Science upon completion. The curriculum is comprised of 51 mandatory credits needed to receive the degree. In order to receive a B.S in Digital Game Development, students will have to earn 120 credits total, including general education courses, elective courses, and major requirement courses.

A total of 51 credits can be awarded from the Digital Game Development Degree requirement courses. Students enrolled into the major can expect to take courses covering programming, game design, animation, graphic design, and more advanced techniques as they progress.

Will my credits transfer over to the Digital Game Development Degree if I am applying as a transfer student?
Students transferring from other universities or internationally are eligible to apply for the program as long as they meet our 24-credit minimum requirement and have a GPA of 2.5 or higher. Transfer students must also submit their official transcript from all universities previously attended to be considered for City College’s undergraduate admissions. The number of credits that can transfer over will depend on the relevance of the course work and availability of equivalent courses they can be applied to.

Additionally, we have established an ongoing partnership with Hostos Community College to transfer several credits from their 2-Year A.A.S in Game Design to the Digital Game Development Degree at City College. Upon admission into the program, an academic advisor for the Digital Game Development Degree will review the transcripts of enrolled students and walk them through which courses will transfer and which ones they will need to take towards their major requirements.

Will there be any summer courses offered for the Digital Game Development Degree?
Yes. Starting Summer 2025, we will begin offering a small selection of summer classes that will count towards the Digital Game Development Degree. Exact summer offerings for each year will be updated in the previous fall semester.

Are there other ways for me to practice my game design skills at CCNY alongside the formal Digital Game Development courses?
Students enrolled in the Digital Game Development program are given access to our class-focused Discord community server. This server is monitored by several faculty and departmental administrators and offers students an easier means of keeping up with their peers outside of class hours to discuss projects, playtest each other’s games, and request feedback. Our EGD Collective on campus also serves as a Game Design Club for students seeking to connect with other student game development teams, attend gaming-related events, and pursue more structured practice outside of the classroom.

What career or internship opportunities will the Digital Game Development program offer?
As of right now we have collaborated with several industry-leading companies, such as Epic Games, developers of Fortnite, and continue to host networking events on and off-campus with several local game developers and leaders in the gaming industry for our students to capitalize on. Any student enrolled in the Digital Game Development Degree who is interested in pursuing a career or internship in a gaming-related field can also contact a career counselor through our Career and Professional Development Institute for more information.

What kinds of events or networking opportunities will students enrolled in the Digital Game Development Degree have the opportunity to attend?
In addition to career development workshops, esports tournaments, and playtesting sessions, we do host several networking events for students enrolled in Digital Game Development courses. One such event was our Unreleased Games Arcade, which we have hosted yearly since 2023. For this event, we invited over 20 game developers local to the NYC area to meet with our game design students on CCNY’s campus.

This event featured developers from the Gumbo Collective, Urban Arts, and the EGD Collective who showcased their upcoming projects, shared tips about game development, and shed light on their experience in the gaming industry with our Digital Game Development students.

How can I get more involved with Esports at City College?
Our campus is home to the CCNY Esports Club which currently has over 200 members who host casual and competitive tournaments during club hours, in their Discord server, and at several esports venues throughout NYC. Our Esports team is a leading competitor in Valorant matches and recently won a tournament against five other participating CUNY schools at OS NYC, one of the city’s fastest-growing gaming hubs. As the team continues to grow, there are plans to host more on-campus tournaments and recruit skilled players for other major games in Esports such as Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, and League of Legends.

What software or technology will Digital Game Development students have access to?
Students enrolled in the Digital Game Development Degree will have access to top-performing development tools in the gaming industry including Unity Engine, Unreal Engine, Blender, Maya, Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Suite, Microsoft Suite, Steam, and the Epic Games Launcher.

In addition, the classrooms are outfitted with custom-built Alienware PCs that are designed to perform exceptionally with every game on the market, including major AAA titles that are typically too intensive for standard computers.

Is there a library of existing games that Digital Game Development students will be able to study from?
Yes. Students accepted into the Digital Games Development major will be able to access over 50+ critically acclaimed works in the AAA industry, as well as popular indie titles such as: Elden Ring, Hollow Knight, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades, Fortnite, Among Us, Tekken 8, Valorant, The Last of Us II, etc.

This list will continue to grow and these games can be accessed through the digital library in our Computer Lab. This library provides students the opportunity to dissect, critique, and draw inspiration from games that have ushered in groundbreaking innovation throughout the gaming industry.

Will I be able to learn about designing tabletop games through the Digital Game Development curriculum?
Our Digital Game Development Degree does offer courses in Game Design Fundamentals, which discusses several topics, about creating engaging mechanics and replayability in non-digital games, including tabletop game design. In addition, we maintain strong ties to the CCNY Board Game Club, which is led by and comprised of several Digital Game Development students who are well-versed in this style of game design.

Are there any pre-college programs that could better prepare me for applying to the Gaming Pathways program?
As of right now, we do maintain strong collaborations with the Urban Arts program in the Lower East Side of NYC. This is a structured and free game design program geared towards high school students who demonstrate an interest in programming, game design, and animation.

Several graduates of the Urban Arts program have continued their education with us at City College and are typically better prepared for the workload presented throughout the Digital Game Development curriculum as a result.

How do I schedule a tour of the campus and Digital Game Development facilities?
To book individual or group tours of City College’s campus, please visit our Campus Tours page or contact to***@*******ny.edu to set up an appointment for an individual or group tour.

Due to conflicting class schedules, the Digital Game Development facilities may not always be available for a tour. However, interested parties can submit a request to visit them so that we can organize a tour date when next possible.