faculty

Emmanuel Valdez is an award-winning art director, game designer, artist, and educator with more than 30 years of experience in interactive entertainment across console, PC, mobile, and arcade development.

He has held creative leadership positions at Visual Concepts/2K, High Moon Studios, Midway Home Entertainment, Daybreak Game Company, Machine Zone, and Appy Entertainment. As a co-founder of High Moon Studios, Emmanuel served as Game Director on The Bourne Conspiracy and co-created Darkwatch. He was also the creator of the Ready 2 Rumble Boxing franchise. His recent work includes LEGO 2K Drive, Skullgirls Mobile, and NBA 2K25: Gravity Ball.

Emmanuel earned his degree in Environmental Design from ArtCenter College of Design and has taught in LCAD’s MFA Art of Game Design program since 2015. A founding contributor to the MFA curriculum, he teaches Player-Centric Design, Management Psychology, and Thesis Project Design. His current interests include visual storytelling, game development, emerging AI-assisted creative workflows, and mentoring the next generation of creative leaders.