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Achievement Unlocked ✅ Cohort 34, you are officially Game Dev graduates and the newest members of the network of 1150+ SMU Guildhall alumni working at hundreds of studios across the globe 🎓🎉🎮💪 Onward and upward!

Congrats Cohort 34! You did it! 🎓🎉 We are so proud of your accomplishments and can’t wait to see what you will go on to do ahead. Please stay in touch. The final cohort to have a Guildhall-only graduation ceremony, as we will move into Meadows School June 1, this marks the end of a long tradition. ♥️

The 2026 SMU Guildhall Catalog is here! Explore independent research and works by our May 2026 graduating students and team video game projects created by Cohort 34 at joom.ag/qqKd

SMU Guildhall Graduate Catalog 2026 Cohort 34

A compilation of SMU Guildhall's 2026 graduate students' work including individual Master's Thesis and Directed Focus Study projects, as well as C34 capstone team games

joom.ag

Thank you to all who joined us for our Thesis Exhibition. It was wonderful sharing the work of Cohort 34 Master’s students with you. To our exhibitors: way to go! Your work is inspiring and well done. We are proud of your accomplishments on these projects. You’re almost to the finish line! 🎉

Many thanks to everyone who participated in Career Day! Panelists, speakers, and professional development leaders: the wisdom and guidance you shared with our job seekers was top notch and immensely invaluable, and we loved hearing the conversations inspired by your insights throughout the day.

Pennington@pingley.bsky.social · 4mo ago

@pingley.bsky.social Thank you for all of your contributions to Career Day! It was wonderful to have you here.

I am speaking today at @smuguildhall.bsky.social! I’m honoured to have been invited to discuss game industry trends based on our work with studios & publishers. Guildhall students are amazingly talented and I’m eager to see what insights I’m going to learn from them. #gameindustry #lotsofmemes

4.15 | Opening Sessions for SMU Guildhall’s game development Career Day. Thank you to all who came for our Industry Leaders Panel and Networking Social! 🎮 #gamedev #careersingaming #smu

We are thrilled to present our 2026 Career Day, kicking off Opening Sessions including an industry panel with Steve Nix (CEO at ForwardXP), Joanie Kraut (CEO @getwigi.com), Chris Schmidt (Game Director @infinityward.com), and Mark Tardif (General Manager at Unannounced Studio). Welcome all! #gamedev

Ethics-Focused AI Literacy Course Beats National Completion Rates: Aleshia Hayes, clinical associate professor at SMU Guildhall, is helping shape how universities teach AI to broad campus audiences, emphasizing how to use it responsibly. www.smu.edu/news/researc...

Ethics-Focused AI Literacy Course Beats National Completion Rates

smu.edu

Guildhall graduate students: we appreciate you! It’s Graduate Student Appreciation Week, and we want to give special recognition to your hard work. We’re proud of all that you have accomplished in your individual studies, research, and Team Game production. You are destined to do great things ahead!

Meet Career Day Panelist, Marc Tardif: Marc's 25+ years in gaming includes studio management, production, publishing and development at studios including @bethesda.net, Escalation and @gearboxofficial.bsky.social for AAA franchises such as Fallout, Skyrim, DOOM, Borderlands, Halo and many more.

Spotlight on Career Day Presenter Candace Walkington: Candace is an Annette and Harold Simmons Centennial Chair and Professor at SMU. Her research examines how abstract math ideas can connect to concrete, everyday experiences. She’s received over $12 million in grants from NSF, US DoE, and US DoD.

*Alert* TODAY, April 7, is the deadline to register for Career Day. Featuring presenter Pennington Ingley, Manager of Media & Entertainment and Gaming Technical Accounts Managers at Google. His experience has included leadership roles in serious and casual publishing. www.smu.edu/guildhall/ne...

Career Day Presenter Paul Allen, Sr 3D Animator at id Software, has contributed to major franchises including DOOM and Halo: The Master Chief Collection at id Software, Gearbox Software, ReelFX, Terminal Reality and KingsIsle Entertainment. Register by tomorrow 4/7! www.smu.edu/guildhall/ne...

Career Day Panelist Chris Schmidt—Game Director @infinityward.com—is a Guildhall alum with 15+ years in shipping and optimizing AAA live service titles and designing levels, gameplay, encounters and systems for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Call of Duty, Anthem and more. smuguildhall.short.gy/WDrI5m

Spotlight on Career Day Panelist Joanie Kraut — CEO at Women in Games International. Joanie is a finance, operations, and business leader with two decades of experience helping tech and gaming organizations turn ambitious ideas into well-run, scalable businesses. Details: www.smu.edu/guildhall/ne...

2 Week Alert! Our FINAL DEADLINE to apply for Fall 2026 enrollment is April 15. Learn from seasoned industry veterans who have honed their craft at numerous studios across a multitude of games. #gamedev #steamgames #gaming #gamedeveducation #gameschool #careersingaming #careersingames

Meet Our Panelist: Steve Nix, ForwardXP CEO, has driven major gaming technology shifts with partners like Yvolver, GameStop, id Software & Ritual Entertainment. He’ll present at Career Day on “The Next Generation of Games: How Studios and Development Roles Are Evolving.” smuguildhall.short.gy/WDrI5m

Meet our Career Day Keynote Speaker: Guildhall alum Jami Jeffcoat is Lead Gameplay Designer at Stone Kite. She started in Technical Design @bungie.net; now at Stone Kite, she builds games based on original Transmedia IPs from comics, film, print media & gaming. More info: www.smu.edu/guildhall/ne...

Are you in #gamedev and seeking more GDC-style events? Join us for Career Day 4/15-4/16. Presentations by: - Steve Nix #ForwardXP - Joanie Kraut @getwigi.com - Chris Schmidt @infinityward.com - Jami Jeffcoat #StoneKite - Paul Allen #idSoftware - Pennington Ingley #Google smuguildhall.short.gy/WDrI5m

Animentals, a game by our friends at BALANCED Media | Technology, is in playtesting! Check it out: store.steampowered.com/news/app/433... Kudos to Guildhall Alumni contributors: Michael Young, Nathan Bowden, Dave Bonora, Marcelo Raimbault, Vinson Luo, Sean Hollinshead

Animentals - Animentals Playtest! - Steam News

This playtest showcases combat, a bite-sized storyline following Wowl, and grants access to some of the core mechanics.

store.steampowered.com

Thank you to Pratyoosh Patel for sharing insights on AI Literacy with SMU Guildhall student producers. This included tips for becoming faster, clearer and more stable via production insights, using tools to critique and validate, leveraging amplification, and productivity advantages.

Peek behind the scenes with Cohort 34’s development of new game, Kila: Hourbound — Now on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/3854930/...

Kudos to Cohort 33 alumna Yuning Anona Yang, who gave a talk at GDC on "Six Months to a Playable Demo: Building Aelwater as Indie Devs (Presented by Yeariver)". Way to go! Play Aelwater on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/4238510/... Learn more about Anona: www.linkedin.com/in/yuning-an...

We’re having a great time at GDC! Between the main hall, tons of great speakers, catching up with alumni and industry friends, and hosting our annual reception there is always so much fun to be had. If we haven’t seen you yet and you’re here, come find us! #gdc #gaming