The Laboratory for Recreational Computing, also known as LARC, was founded in 1993 by the current Director Ian Parberry as a center of excellent in game programming education and research. LARC has a strong group of alumni in the video game industry and a long history of innovation in game programming education and research in the areas of procedural content generation, game programming, and video game assessment. Students at the University of North Texas can earn a Certificate in Game Programming as part of the degree programs offered by the Department of Computer Science & Engineering.