Interactive Media & Game Development Programs (IMGD)

Our top-ranked Interactive Media & Game Development (IMGD) program is home to passionate gamers who are also artists, programmers, storytellers, musicians, and explorers pushing the boundaries of new worlds of emerging media.

Students work both individually and in teams to create games and interactive experiences that shape advances in the gaming industry as well as areas like education, healthcare, art, and social sciences.

Courses, projects, and other experiences will expose you to every aspect of the game development process. You will work alongside renowned faculty researchers and industry advisors, receive professional and personal support, and have access to gaming activities, competitions, and conferences (including IGDA, GameJam, MassDiGI Game Challenge, Diversity in Games club, PAX East, and GDC).

Get to Know IMGD at WPI

IMGD at WPI

Becker-WPI Pathway for IMGD

Through the Becker-WPI Pathway, students will enroll in the IMGD Bachelor of Arts degree program. Under our IMGD BA degree, you can also choose a concentration in visual art, technical art, design, writing, or audio based on your interests. Learn more about undergraduate courses.

Becker students interested in the 5-year BS/BA-MS are eligible to apply to this matriculation program in their junior year.

MS in Interactive Media and Game Development

WPI will also offer a course of study leading to a Master of Science Degree in Interactive Media and Game Development to students currently enrolled in the graduate program in Interactive Media Design at Becker College.

WPI is the perfect place to bring together game designers and technical developers to create new expressions of human creativity.

Jennifer deWinter

Department Head, Interactive Media & Game Development

Supporting You through the Process

We realize no two students are alike, so WPI advisors and faculty will work one-on-one with transferring Becker students to review classes completed at Becker and map out an individualized pathway to ensure completion of the necessary courses to earn the IMGD BA degree from WPI. Contact Becker-help@wpi.edu with any questions.

Explore your next steps

FAQs

Transfer form (Undergraduates)

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Our Faculty

At WPI, we bring together top professionals and scholars in media and games, from established veterans to industry trailblazers to up-and-coming visionaries. As researchers, their diverse interests have included the newest virtual reality game, testing an app to prevent drunk driving, designing and animating new characters, and creating cutting-edge learning technologies.

In addition to teaching in the classroom, our faculty are also advisors and mentors, working closely with students to teach them the skills they need—design, coding, art, writing, and sound, as well as leadership and entrepreneurship—to launch their careers. Meet the IMGD faculty.

Studios, Labs & Facilities

Our flagship IMGD Lab is a 27-seat teaching/research facility that features Mac and PC workstations equipped with the latest software for building games and creating art. This space is designed so that students can work in a collaborative environment and benefit from synergistic interactive media and game development. Additional state-of- the-art facilities support research in all aspects of building games and creating art for them, from delving into artificial intelligence to studying sound from the user’s experience.

IMGD labs and studios include:

Intentional Design Studio (IDeaS), which brings artists and developers together to work on innovative projects
Foisie Innovation Studio, with access to prototype labs, a video recording suite, and more
A partnership with the Worcester Center for Crafts
IMGD Interaction Lab, which provides equipment for data visualization, music computerization, and computational crafts
Digital Art & Fabrication Studio (FabLab)
Paper Prototyping Studio & Graduate Lounge

We have also proposed to house the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, better known as MassDiGi, at WPI. MassDiGi focuses on entrepreneurship, academic cooperation, and economic development across the Massachusetts games ecosystem.

A group of three students gathered around a computer looking at a TV with four video game controllers in front of it.

Student sitting in front of a computer drawing a picture while looking at the phone for the picture they are recreating.

Three students drawing pictures on touch screen monitors.

Student in the foreground with a helmet with a camera pointed at his face while two students in the background are looking at computer screens.

Student Projects

In addition to classroom project work starting their first year, all undergraduates will complete two major team-based projects: an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) as well as a Major Qualifying Project (MQP). Project-based work is an opportunity to showcase talents, become immersed in creating something you are passionate about, and build confidence, leadership, collaborative, and critical thinking skills that prepare you to succeed in your career. For many IMGD students, these projects provide their very first game credits.

IMGD 2021

Project-based learning

For the four members of Team Trumbus, the MQP marked their professional beginnings and brought home the reality of how good teamwork makes a difference. Their MQP produced The Call of Karen, a PC comedy simulation game released in July and now owned by more than 100,000 players around the world.

Launch Your Career

The IMGD program gives students the critical thinking skills that employers seek, and our well-connected faculty provide an insider’s perspective. Students also have access to WPI’s Career Development Center, which has a unit that works specifically with the gaming program. Graduates of the IMGD program have gone on to win severa lmajor awards based on games and media that they built at WPI, have started successful companies, and have launched thriving careers in a variety of fields.

Career Outlook