Master of Arts in Media and Information - Game Design and Research

Games, both digital and non-digital, have long been viewed as far more than just entertainment. Interconnected experiences across multiple media platforms such as films, games, virtual reality, mobile apps, and social media all can be used to educate, inform, engage, encourage, and entertain individuals. The games studies and design program not only looks at the impacts of games and how they can be used, it helps students to gain the skills and experiences to work in this dynamic field. This is a 'studio focused concentration, with the production of media products in collaboration with peers within the concentration, and with undergraduate students interested in working on various dimensions of game studies.
This is a 'studio focused concentration, with the production of media products in collaboration with peers within the concentration and with undergraduate students focused on this area.

All Official Transcripts. Bachelor Degree is required for Admission.
All students start their application in the MSU graduate student portal. All documents should be submitted directly through the portal except for bachelor's degree transcripts. Please go over the rest of the information on this page to make sure you have everything ready before you start.

Being a top program, we have a number of great students applying for a position in our cohort. Successful applicants usually have a 3.0 or higher GPA in a program that prepares them for our research intensive program. We look holistically at applications, so research statements and personal statements are carefully reviewed by the committee for clear connections to our areas of focus.
What you Need to Apply:

1. To apply for any master's program at MSU, students need to have the equivalent of a 4-year bachelor's degree. Our applicants who have a 3-year applied sciences degrees often have another 1-year master's degree before applying to our program.

2. Each applicant will submit a personal statement. This is your opportunity to tell the M.A. Committee about yourself, your background, your passion and professional interests and aspirations. In addition, this is the opportunity to communicate to the M.A. Committee any factors that may have contributed to any prior academic performance and anything you would wish for the M.A. Committee to take into consideration during the review of your application.

3. Applicants also submit an academic statement. This should reflect what the applicant hopes to do with their training and what they want to study in their master's program. It helps to look carefully at our research focus areas and faculty expertise.

4. A resume or CV

5. An example of your skills. To get a better assessments of student potential each student must submit at least one of the following: a portfolio showing the student's work, a research paper clearly showing the student's work, or a GRE. See below for more details on what to submit.

The master's experience includes working closely with faculty and engaging in classes and projects that teach research both qualitative and quantitative research skills. We are committed to being an inclusive and supportive learning community. So we look for students who have a passion to learn. We encourage applicants who come from diverse backgrounds, but have a strong interest in game studies, UX design, usability, media policy & society, or information management to apply.
MSU has TOEFL/ IELTS minimum scores of 80, our department has a minimum TOEFL of 85. No subscore below 19 for reading, listening, and speaking and no subscore below 22 for writing. The minimum average score for IELTS is 6.5 with no subscore below 6.0. Duolingo scores must be 105 or higher. See MSU Graduate Studies website for more information. Our International students who have a bachelor's degree from a U.S. institution do not need a TOEFL/IELTS score.