Through his time at OU, Matt Nguyen has exemplified the OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation (OU ECCI) spirit of community. Though he only recently joined OU ECCI, he has already done much to establish connections between OU ECCI and other organizations.
Nguyen started his undergraduate studies in 2017. Initially undecided, he switched between several different majors before eventually graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2020. Nguyen then graduated with a Master’s in Educational Psychology in 2022.
In the fall of 2023, Nguyen made the decision to come back for another Master’s degree, this time in Professional Writing. He will be graduating with the degree at the end of this semester.
Nguyen’s first exposure to video games was around five years old.“My parents got a PS2 for me and my sister,” he said.
Nguyen started with games like “Sonic Mega Collection Plus” and “Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life.” Nguyen also loved watching cartoons likePokemon, which got him interested in those games. A particularly influential game for Nguyen was “Kingdom Hearts 2.” Nguyen loves Disney movies, and he received the game from his cousin as a Christmas present in 2006.
“That’s where I take most inspiration for my stories from. I like to emulate the adventure [and] the wanderlust,” he said.
Nguyen says that possibly the most important game for him is “Pokemon Go.” Nguyen has been playing actively since the game was launched in 2016, and he feels like it gave him a large community that he would not have otherwise had. Nguyen is the community administrator of a group of “Pokemon Go” players on campus, where he helps organize events and complete raids.
He explained, “I like to pay back to my community with shinies and rare stuff… because without [the game] I wouldn’t have [these] friends.”
Nguyen joined OU ECCI in the fall of 2025 as both a News Team member and a Researcher. As part of the Research Team, he is currently working on how augmented reality can enhance community, using “Pokemon Go” as a medium.
“We hope to submit to the IMB next semester to start collecting data,” Nguyen said.
In addition to his time in OU ECCI, Nguyen is also part of the Game Developer’s Association, an organization for game developers on campus to hone their craft and share ideas. Nguyen joined the group in January of 2025 as the Narrative Assistant. In the fall of 2026, Nguyen was promoted to the Narrative Director.
“I started helping with slides, and I created something called ‘Pen and Pixels,’ little workshops to teach about narrative in video games,” he said.
In the spring of 2026, Nguyen became the president of the GDA, where he is working to strengthen the connections between GDA and OU ECCI and highlight the importance of story-building and narrative within game design.
After graduating, Nguyen plans to go into interactive media. His ideal role is writing narratives for video games.
