The Archivist: A Game Plan for Success

As WPI entered the 21st century, the Computer Science Department was beset with a curious problem. Despite a four-decade–long history of success and innovation, interest and enrollment in the Computer Science program were declining, despite the continued integration of technology into new aspects of everyday life.

At the time, the video game industry reflected society’s growing fascination with electronic entertainment, accounting for a global market share of $27 billion in 2003, with projections of double-digit growth. Seeing opportunity, an enterprising group of computer science faculty proposed a bold new program at WPI, one that would change the trajectory of the department in ways they could not even imagine.

Professor Michael Gennert, then head of the department, was one of the new program’s architects. He saw the proposed Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) program as a natural extension of the university’s philosophy of blending technology and the humanities.

“It’s not quite computer science, but it involves computer science, and it’s not quite humanities and arts, but it surely involves humanities and arts,” he said at the time. “We want something that will have an impact.”

When faculty members, including the late Dean O’Donnell and Mark Claypool, unofficially surveyed students about this plan, the responses were overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. The newly formed WPI Game Development Club, which was less than three years old but had more than 60 active members, was the fastest growing student group on campus, and supplied many of its early students.

The newly proposed degree required existing courses in computer science, philosophy, art, music, and creative writing while also proposing new classes in game design, storytelling, and the history of video game development. Courses were designed on WPI’s project-based learning principle. The faculty also envisioned the program would be a lure for underrepresented students in computer science, as the two tracks, artistic and technical, would offer wider appeal to prospective students interested in computer science and technology.

Within 10 years, the IMGD program earned global recognition. As it looks toward its 20th anniversary in 2024, it has solidified itself as one of WPI’s most distinctive and successful fields of study.

The department continues to grow and develop, with its newest program producing WPI’s first master of fine arts graduate in 2023. The program has also carried out its goal of serving as a model for creating a welcome and inclusive environment, hallmarks of WPI’s community. 

To recognize two decades of success, WPI Archives and Special Collections is showcasing IMGD as part of an exhibition: “Video Game Console Wars, 1976-2001, featuring WPI’s Interactive Media Archive & Interactive Media and Game Development Department” in Gordon Library’s Gladwin Gallery through August 2024. Visitors can learn about the history of the home console industry and WPI’s work in diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in that field, and even play some of the historic consoles that comprise one of WPI’s most interesting academic resources.