Three Student Games Selected as Finalists for 2026 GDC Alt.Control Competition

Categories: News & Events

Three alternative-controller games developed by students in the Division of Games at the University of Utah have been selected as finalists for the Alt Control competition at the 2026 Game Developers Conference (GDC), one of the game industry’s most influential global events. The finalist projects—Pivot, Akushukai!, and Udon Uncaged—were created by graduate students as part […]

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December 23, 2025

Student Game Rockin’ Derby Selected as 2025 Indiecade Finalist

Categories: News & Events

Rockin’ Derby, an alternative-controller game developed by a team of graduate students in the Master’s of Entertainment Arts and Engineering program in the Division of Games at the University of Utah, has been selected as a finalist at the 2025 IndieCade Festival of Games. IndieCade is widely recognized as the largest and most prestigious festival […]

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December 23, 2025

Buck Awarded VPR’s Office Faculty Fellow Award

Categories: News & Events

Lauren Buck, assistant professor in the Division of Games, has been selected as a recipient of the University of Utah Faculty Fellow Award (FFA) from the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR). The highly competitive award provides one semester of full release time at full salary to support significant scholarly or creative work, […]

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December 22, 2025

Kim Receives National Commendation from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Categories: Faculty, Highlights, News

Kim Receives National Commendation from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dae Hong Kim, an associate professor, lecturer  in the Division of Games (at the Utah Asia Campus), has been awarded a Certificate of Commendation from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in recognition of his contributions to arts and cultural […]

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December 22, 2025

Back Off Me Booty Wins Audience Choice Award at IndieCade 2024

Categories: Events, News, News & Events, Students

The University of Utah’s The Division of Games (Utah Games) program is proud to celebrate the success of Back Off Me Booty, a student-developed game that captured the hearts of players at IndieCade 2024, earning the coveted Audience Choice Award. This prestigious honor highlights the talent, creativity, and dedication of the University’s budding game developers. […]

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November 25, 2024

Kessler Inducted into HEVGA Fellows

Categories: 2023, Awards, Featured Talks, News, News & Events, Talks

Bob Kessler, Ph.D., EAE’s co-founder and founding director, will be posthumously inducted as a HEVGA Fellow during a ceremony to be held at the Game Developers’ Conference in San Francisco, CA, the week of March 20th, 2023.   Kessler was a towering figure in the history of EAE, serving to co-found the program in 2008 […]

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March 3, 2023

EAE Professor Ashley Guajardo Wins Early Career Teaching Award at University of Utah

Categories: News & Events

The Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program is proud to announce that Professor Ashley Guajardo has been awarded the Early Career Teaching Award for their exceptional contributions to the university’s educational community. This prestigious award recognizes the outstanding efforts of early career faculty members in promoting a positive and dynamic learning experience for their students. Dr. […]

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February 11, 2023

Cardona-Rivera Wins Prestigious NSF CAREER Award

Categories: News & Events

Rogelio Cardona-Rivera, a jointly appointed assistant professor in the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program and in the School of Computing at the University of Utah, has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, NSF’s highest honor for early-career scientists and engineers. The five-year, $544,379 CAREER award, which recognizes faculty who possess the […]

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July 19, 2021

Professor Jose Zagal Named HEVGA Fellow

Categories: Awards, Faculty, News & Events

On July 16, 2020, the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA) inducted Entertainment Arts and Engineering professor José Zagal into the ranks of the prestigious HEVGA Fellows. Zagal joins a list of distinguished fellows that includes EAE Associate Professor Roger Altizer and EAE Director Michael Young. Established in 2017, HEVGA’s Fellows Program recognizes senior scholars […]

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July 16, 2020