Texas A&M University College of Performance,
Visualization & Fine Arts
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University College of Performance,
Visualization & Fine Arts

Texas A&M University Again Ranks In The Top 10 Public Schools For Game Design

It is the ninth time in the past decade that the university has been ranked in the top 10. Game design is part of the Visualization program, and it is the focus of the LIVE Lab.

Nov. 21, 2025By Rob Clark

3 min. read

Collage of four video game scenes. Top left: A sea creature under a dark sky faces a glowing orb. Top right: A cartoon dog surrounded by a glowing outline under the words "Border Collie." Bottom left: A character wearing a white suit smiles and points, with the words "hit em with your ultimate move!" Bottom right: A video game scene featuring a mystical figure with wings carrying a large book, surrounded by floating books and illuminated by blue light.
Top left: “Beacon’s End,” created by Connor Callan, Kevin Champagne, Worth Gilbert, Savannah Higgins, Alexandra Lindgren, Marissa Mallinger and Andrew Wheir. Top right: “Wiz-Herd,” created by Breyton Atkins, Zhongyou Wu, Bryn Shellenback, Hannah Harmon and Leena Felder. Bottom left: “Boogie Man,” created by Anthony Le, Izzy Rollo, Cole Schantel and Christopher Liu. Bottom right: “Infinite Library,” created by Samantha Braswell, Garrett Guerrero, Lydia Harding, Brack Harmon, Breck Ortiz, Hope Poulter and Sammy Reel.

Texas A&M University is again in the top 10 among public schools nationally for game design, according to recent rankings by Animation Career Review.

The university comes in at No. 10. It is the ninth time in the past decade that Texas A&M has been ranked in the top 10.

Game design is part of the Visualization program in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, which offers a Bachelor of Science degree and two graduate degrees — a Master of Fine Arts and Master of Science. A Ph.D. program in Visual Computing and Interactive Media began this fall.

Hadeel Ramadan, undergraduate program director for the Visualization program and instructional associate professor, said the ranking reflects the students’ hard work, creativity and dedication, along with faculty members’ passion, critical thinking and mentoring.

“It’s that blend of strong academics and hands-on experience that really drives our program’s success,” she said. “We want our students to graduate not only with a solid educational foundation but with the practical skills and confidence to excel in game creation and beyond.”

The Visualization program’s game design efforts extend to the LIVE Lab, which stands for Learning Interactive Visualization Experience. The research lab creates opportunities for students to build educational video games, developed in collaboration with industry and experts in their respective fields.

Aaron Thibault, LIVE Lab director and director of games and esports, said the language and knowledge of games are transforming industries and real-world strategies in remarkable ways.

“Gamers increasingly run the world,” he said. “The emerging science and craft of making games depends on the computational thinking, design integration and team-based skills that our students learn. In the Game Design and Development program here at the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, we bring students, faculty, researchers and industry professionals together to push forward the frontier of games for entertainment, learning and real-world impact.”

Graduates of the Visualization program go on to work for top game design and development companies including Blizzard Entertainment, Bluepoint Games, Brazen Animation, Bungie Inc., Cloud Imperium Games, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Gearbox Software, SideFX and Virtuix.

Animation Career Review’s rankings criteria include academic reputation, employment data, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of the program, tuition value, graduation rate and retention rate.

The Visualization program’s success is also reflected in the university’s high rankings in animation (No. 2 public school in 2025); visual effects (No. 1 public school in 2025); and augmented and virtual reality (No. 9 public school in 2025).

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