Inside the Kimsey Lab
The Miriam and Steve Kimsey Game and Interactive Media Lab began as a single classroom in the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication. A 2020 renovation turned it into three spaces: a game lab, a design Maker Space and an esports arena. Game design students have 24/7 access to the lab and the Maker Space.
Students work on gaming PCs and use virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. A playable library covers game history from the Atari Video Computer System through the Xbox Series X.
The Princeton Review named HPU’s game design program to its Top 50 list in 2025 for the fourth consecutive year, ranking it #41 in the nation and #6 in the South. HPU is the only university in North Carolina on the list, and the ranking weighs facilities and technology along with faculty, curriculum and career services.
The lab is named for HPU graduate Miriam Kimsey and her husband, Steve, whose gift supported the School of Communication.
The game lab, where game design classes meet for programming and graphics work.
Three Spaces in One Lab
Game Lab
A computer lab where game design students take programming and graphics design classes and build their own games.
Maker Space
A design room where students collaborate on game concepts, work through designs and test game play together.
Esports Arena
Home to the HPU eSports Club, which has fielded teams in Call of Duty, Rocket League, Valorant, Overwatch, Rainbow 6 Siege, League of Legends, Fortnite and Smash Ultimate. The club is open to students of every major.
The arena also serves game design, sport management and sports media students. When it opened, the school planned for sports media students to broadcast and commentate competitions and for sport management students to handle sponsorship and promotion.
At HPU’s 2026 Game Developers Conference, visiting industry speakers watched seniors demo their capstone games and then went to the esports arena to play them alongside the students.
What Students Say
Game design students and graduates on what the program prepared them for.
Emily Krol
Game Design graduate · Esports and Influencer Marketing Manager, Logitech
“The small class sizes and individual attention gave me the skills I needed to succeed early in my career, such as networking, the ability to work collaboratively on a focused team, and implementing feedback in a meaningful way. A degree from HPU in this program will give you the skills to compete and succeed in the fast-paced and ever-evolving world of gaming and esports.”
Ashley Longbottom
Entrepreneurship and Game Design major · Presented at PAX East 2024
“Being part of the game design program at High Point University has helped prepare me for any future career by teaching me how to work with a team as a project lead and as a general game developer. The best part is that the courses have helped me develop a form of thinking that helps me find solutions to any problem I interact with.”
Shane Cooper
Game Design major · Summer Research Institute
“I’m learning a lot about film while also expanding my knowledge about game design. I’m also recording all the steps that we take, the equipment we use and flavoring it to explain all the problems we come across. When we publish our work, we can say this is what we did and here are the steps you can take so you can do it yourself at home. We also say here are some problems you might run into and how to fix them.”
Industry Connections
- Epic Day: every semester, professionals from Epic Games come to campus to run workshops for game design majors and talk through what jobs in the industry involve.
- HPU Game Developers Conference: the student chapter of the International Game Developers Association hosted its third annual conference in April 2026 with seven professional and independent game designers, a session from a Meta developer advocate and a keynote from a CD PROJEKT RED senior systems designer.
- Steve Wozniak: the Apple co-founder and HPU’s Innovator in Residence has mentored game design classes on campus.
Students have presented their games and research at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, PAX East and the Broadcast Education Association.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak mentors game design students in the Esports Arena.
Build Games at HPU
Game design majors and minors build their games in the Kimsey lab. Explore the program.
Game Design Curriculum Game Design Careers
Questions? Email Dr. Stefan Hall, chair of game design, at [email protected].