Originally a part of the Department of Digital Aesthetics and Communication and spun off into its own independent unit in 2003, the Center was notable at the time for its sole specialization in gaming.
It has historically been a multidisciplinary unit with faculty from fields ranging from literature to sociology to computer science.
It continues to provide institutional support to the peer-reviewed journal Game Studies, which launched in 2001 (the editor-in-chief, Espen Aarseth, is former head of the Center[1] and current Professor at the ITU[2]).
The Center played a significant role for a number of important game studies scholars and designers.
In addition to being the intellectual home for the university's Masters Program in Gaming, the Center has produced a number of PhD's over the years including scholars who have gone on to do major work in the field (see below).