Animation Career Review (ACR) has released its 2019 Game Design School Rankings, and UCI is again third best for game design in California, fourth best on the West Coast and fourth best among U.S. public colleges. Furthermore, UCI improved in the national ranking compared to 2018, moving up to 11th best in the nation. Also, UCI moved up to being ranked ninth best in the nation among schools offering a games-related B.S. degree program.

UCI offers a B.S. in Computer Game Science (CGS) through the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS). The CGS degree combines a solid foundation in computer science with a focus on designing, building, and understanding computer games and other forms of interactive media, giving students invaluable hands-on experience.

ACR started publishing regional and national rankings in 2012 to help aspiring animators and game designers identify top schools. The criteria ACR uses when compiling top school lists include academic reputation, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of programs, degree value as it relates to tuition and indebtedness and geographic location. ACR also incorporates school surveys during the evaluation process.