Faculty

Chris Swain is a USC professor and startup founder. He has co-founded three venture-backed companies and led 50+ products and business initiatives for companies that include Disney, Intel, Sony, IBM, RAND Corporation, NASDAQ, Activision, and many others. Swain co-founded/directed the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab at USC and was a founding faculty member in the USC Games program. Through his lab, Swain developed research methodology to solve hard UX problems using playable systems and the principles of intrinsic motivation. His lab projects received funding from National Science Foundation, NIH, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, ABC News, LA Times, and others.

Prior to USC, Swain was a founding member of the design firm R/GA in NYC. During his time at R/GA, the company grew from 4 to over 300 people and $0 to over $50MM in annual revenue. The company is now a leading global design firm.

Chris speaks regularly about startups and playable systems in the press and at events around the world. Venues include MIT, Harvard, University of Tokyo, DARPA, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Sorbonne, City U of Hong Kong, GDC, SIGGRAPH, and others. Publications include CNN, NPR, Forbes, New York Times, Wired, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, LA Times, and many others.