VGD Club

The Video Game Development Club (VGDC) at UC Irvine provides students an opportunity to strengthen their technical expertise, create successful portfolios and establish a professional network with other game developers. By facilitating connections among students, alumni and industry professionals, VGDC helps members — from artists, to programmers, writers, designers and producers — learn firsthand the skills they need to succeed in a competitive marketplace. VGDC also hosts popular “Game Jam” competitions throughout the academic year, challenging student teams to build a fully functioning video game in just one week.

According to the VGDC website:

The primary objective of the Game Development Club at UCI is to provide students with tangible products they can present in their portfolios and demo reels when applying for jobs post-graduation. All the teaching in the world can’t compare to a working prototype, mod or finished game in the hands of a potential employer. It not only demonstrates the student’s knowledge, but also their adaptability, their determination to see a project through, and their willingness to cooperate and work in a team.

Students are encouraged to come up with ideas, brainstorm them with a team, and arrange talent to help make it happen. Whether it’s building a new game from scratch or creating a mod off of popularly available engines like Unreal or Source, students are assisted by club officers with real-world knowledge of how the game industry works, what will be expected of them as professionals, and how to tune their work to that level.