Gaming is global, and its future requires business leaders who understand the industry. Champlain College is a hub for gaming - study Game Business & Publishing and learn alongside your future peers.
Develop into a business leader who understands the global potential of gaming. Focus your study in business development, communications, analytics, and more. And study abroad with help from the Freeman Foundation Grant.
Collaborate with interdisciplinary majors in our Game Studio Experience, while developing all the skills you need in strategy, research, and leadership. You’ll learn all the foundations of great business practices with a focus on the specific opportunities, markets, and challenges of the game industry. By graduation, you’ll be ready to bring any game, feature, or strategy to market.
If you love video games and want to focus on promotion and marketing within the growing game industry, Game Business and Publishing is the major for you.
The game industry has grown from neighborhood arcades into a global industry worth over $100 billion. With all of that growth and monetary opportunity, studios need competent, business-minded professionals who know how to successfully market a game release, connect with the target audience, and use their research to employ successful business tactics during game production and publishing. Employees in this field ensure that all of the work game developers put into a game is seen by a large audience, and ultimately makes enough money to succeed and fuel growth.
You’ll get the full picture of the game market and process through Champlain College’s Game Studio Experience, where students in each game major collaborate in a complete ecosystem that simulates the industry. Your experience here sets you up to transition seamlessly into your career.
In our Upside-Down Curriculum, you’ll start taking classes in your major on day one – classes taught by industry experts with years of experience in the game industry. That means four years of practical courses and learning through firsthand experience. You’ll graduate with a background to rival many candidates who are already working in the field.
The game industry is massive and complex, which means there are plenty of different career options and opportunities just within the business side of game production. Our program includes three concentrations to narrow your field of study and help you to close in on your chosen career path. They are:
Champlain College is a hub for the entire gaming industry, with multiple majors and programs focused around gaming and game development. Champlain Club eSports is Champlain’s biggest student-led group. And Princeton Review ranks Champlain among the nation’s top schools for game design.
Instead of applying broad business experience to a specific industry after you graduate, this program allows you to develop your business acumen within the context of game markets and production cycles.
We follow the International Game Developers Association framework and are the most experienced, four-year, interdisciplinary game program in the country, following a cutting edge, digital business model.
The Game Studio style of learning ensures that students know how to work well in teams just like the ones in professional studios. This cooperative experience sets Champlain graduates above others when competing for jobs.
The amount of money the gaming industry makes per year in revenue—more than the NFL, NBA, MLB, and the NHL, combined according to an article in TechJury.
The number of students in the Game Business & Publishing major who will complete an advanced internship as part of their required curriculum.
The year our first Game Business & Publishing students will graduate and join the workforce.
The unique Game Studio Experience at Champlain College gives you start-to-finish game-building experience in a professional environment. You’ll collaborate with your peers in each of our game majors to create playable games in a studio that parallels the processes of the industry.
You will have the opportunity to present the game you create with your Game Studio team—as well as your own demo reel—to recruiters from all over the United States and Canada. Recruiters often come to the Senior Show to scout new talent, from companies like: Insomniac, Activision, Ubisoft and more!
Champlain College sends a cohort to the world’s largest game developers conference each year in San Francisco for professional development and networking. The Career Coach facilitates exclusive networking meetings for Champlain students with top recruiters from some of the largest game developers.
Game Publishers are grounded with extensive knowledge in game development, marketing, and analytics. Motivated to investigate, critique, and promote games on their way to the public, Game Publishers are the business people of our Game Studio. Below, see how the Upside-Down Curriculum puts you in your major, right away.
Dive into the business side of game development with the Game Business & Publishing major. Prepare for your specific chosen career with our concentrations.
Dive into the business side of game development with the Game Business & Publishing major. Prepare for your specific chosen career with our concentrations.
Learn how to conduct research and analyze the game market. Use this data to ensure the most successful possible release for your game based on the information you collect.
Based on your interest in the Game Business & Publishing major, we thought you also might like to check out these other academic programs and opportunities.
So you mean business? Good, so do we. Start gaining real business experience at great Vermont entrepreneurial companies like Burton Snowboards as early as your first year.
This one-of-a-kind program prepares you to guide the teams creating tomorrow’s games. Immerse yourself in collaborative, hands-on projects in the Game Production Management major at Champlain College.
Businesses run on stories and data. Tune in to emerging marketing strategies and graduate ready for your career, with impressive industry-standard certifications.
Develop your self-expression in our Creative Media major, and learn the businesses side of interdisciplinary production, digital creation, and entrepreneurship.
Look at the data: Champlain’s Business Analytics minor is a program dedicated to delivering students the experience needed to professionally handle statistics.
Learn how to turn ideas into profitable businesses or non-profit with an Entrepreneurship minor.
Turn concepts into digital reality.
Drive change at the intersection of information and impact.
Learn what you love, and love what you learn.
For this major, we are looking for students with a head for business and an entrepreneurial mindset. Champlain’s Game Business & Publishing degree program is perfect for students who love being immersed in games and enjoy working with people. You’ll collaborate with peers, intern with innovative companies, and gain valuable expertise in best practices for business.
We look for strong writing and communication skills and a balanced academic background from applicants. There is no portfolio requirement for this major.
Academic preparation includes successful completion of a college preparatory curriculum, including:
If one of the elements of your academic profile is not as strong as your overall application we recommend a Personal Interview to demonstrate the personal qualities we look for in admitted students. We are seeking individuals who are highly motivated to achieve their professional and personal goals.
You can apply to Champlain College using the Common Application or the Champlain College Application. Both are free. Regardless of which you choose, all applications are considered equally.
The first graduating class for the Game Business & Publishing major will be 2026 with 100% of students completing an advanced internship as part of their required curriculum.
The Champlain Game Academy offers an intensive residential pre-college program for high school students entering grades 10-12 and recent high school graduates. Like the Game Studio, our program emphasizes teamwork and creative collaboration across all the game development disciplines. In order to understand how a professional game development team works, students will be introduced to all aspects of game development.
Learn More on the Pre-College Summer Program WebsiteGaming is global, and its future requires business leaders who understand the industry. Champlain College is a hub for gaming - study Game Business & Publishing and learn alongside your future peers.
Your career in Game Business & Publishing starts on day one with Champlain’s Upside-Down Curriculum. Discover the difference and jumpstart your career.
Learn the business side of game development from industry experts with years of experience through the Game Business & Publishing major.