A new gaming institute has been added to the Moody College of Communication to help prepare students for careers in the video game industry, according to an April 10 news release. 

Matt Karch, CEO of Saber Interactive, funded Moody’s new Karch Gaming Institute with a $5 million gift to help prepare students for the growing video game industry, according to the news release. 

“While there are some colleges that offer technical game development classes that can train someone to code or become an artist or an animator, there are no schools that train you to become a leader in the industry,” Karch said in an email. “While I am sure we will have students that specialize in a particular area of expertise, I believe that our education should give students the opportunity to get a bird’s-eye view of the business.”

Cindy McCreery, department chair of the radio-television-film department, said the institute will expand the opportunities available to students pursuing a career in the video game industry. 

“With the Karch Institute, we can do pitch competitions, bring in guest speakers and do bigger events because of the resources of the Institute,” McCreery said. 

The institute will offer an esports class this summer, and the classes “Business of Video Games” and “Game Usability Analysis” in the fall, which will be taught by Ben Bays, an associate radio-television-film professor. The classes are open to any UT student. 

“If students are going to have agency in the 21st century, they need to wrap their heads around this new technology, and so we need to adapt,” Bays said. “The program here is meant to do that. It’s meant to really sort of respond in a very agile way to changes in the industry and keep students on top of it.” 

Karch said the Institute will provide students with internship opportunities and connections to prominent figures in the video game industry. He said that he is excited to see what the Institute accomplishes. 

“I want UT to become synonymous with video game education,” Karch said. “What we are doing is really a first-of-its-kind institute and, ultimately, I think it could not only prove beneficial to the students, but also to the industry at large.”