Make no mistake: Mass-market video games are big money. Last September, Grand Theft Auto V, the latest in the popular franchise from Rockstar Games, sold $800 million worldwide in 24 hours—the most successful launch of any entertainment property ever. That includes movies, records, you name it. For comparison, it took four weekends for this summer’s Transformers movie to hit $800 million. To put it simply, video game revenues dwarf the box office and most other forms of entertainment.

Based on the immensity and longevity of the gaming industry, it makes perfect sense for two of the industry’s leading researchers to set up shop at one of the world’s top research universities and try to push the medium forward. And that’s exactly what Bogost and MacIntyre aim to do.

“We’re really interested in stopping and thinking about where gaming is today,” Bogost says. “It’s important to look back historically at where gaming has come from, and then look forward to see where it might go in the future. All kinds of new opportunities exist for video games.”

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