# DFW Industry Map ### Where the work is in North Texas — companies, communities, and how to research them Compiled August 2026 for ARTV 2335. Feeds the **Target List of 10** (Week 8), the **Networking Log** (Week 15), and the **90-Day Plan** (Week 15). --- ## ⚠ Read this before you use the list **This list is a starting point, not a source.** Studios open, close, relocate, get acquired, and go quiet. Some of the companies below will have changed by the time you read this. Treat every entry as a lead to verify, not a fact to cite. **Verifying is the assignment.** Before a company goes on your Target List, confirm three things yourself: 1. **Are they operating, here, right now?** Check the careers page, recent LinkedIn activity, and news from the last six months. A company with no LinkedIn post since 2024 is telling you something. 2. **Do they hire your role?** Look at their actual open reqs — and at what they've hired in the past year. A twelve-person studio may never have an entry-level art position. 3. **Who is the human?** Find a specific person whose work you can honestly say something about. Companies don't answer email. Sometimes people do. Anything you can't verify doesn't go on the list. --- ## 1. Games North Texas has real depth here — a couple of historically significant studios, several mid-size independents, and a long tail of small teams, porting houses, and mobile developers. | Studio | Area | Known for | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | **Gearbox Software** | Frisco | *Borderlands* | Largest game employer in the immediate area, and it's in your city. Part of the Take-Two/2K group since 2024. | | **id Software** | Richardson | *DOOM*, *Quake* | Historically significant; part of ZeniMax/Microsoft. | | **Bethesda Game Studios Dallas** | Dallas | Support and co-dev on Bethesda titles | Formerly Escalation Studios; converted in 2018. | | **Robot Entertainment** | Plano | *Orcs Must Die* | Long-running independent. | | **Stray Kite Studios** | Dallas area | *Wartorn* | ~30 developers, founded 2018; veterans from BioShock, Borderlands, Age of Empires. Mid-size independents like this are often a more realistic first door than the household names. | | **Sickhead Games** | Dallas | Porting and platform work | Small, founded 2002. Porting studios are an underrated entry point — you learn platform constraints fast. | | **PeopleFun** | Dallas area | *Wordscapes* and word/casual mobile | Mobile and casual is a large, steady, and much less crowded employer category. | | **Playful Studios** | McKinney | *Lucky's Tale*, *Wildcard* | Has varied considerably in size; verify current status. | | **Nerve Software** | Richardson | Co-dev and original titles | Long-established small studio. | | **Worldspark Studios** | North Texas | Platform/metaverse development | Newer; venture-funded. | | **Spidermonk Entertainment** | Frisco | Independent development | Small team. | **Also look for:** the long tail of independent teams that never appear in directories. Find them at IGDA Dallas meetups and at game jams, not on lists like this one. --- ## 2. Animation, Motion, VFX & Advertising Larger by headcount than the games sector locally, and considerably easier to enter. Dallas has a deep advertising and corporate-video economy, which means steady demand for motion design and 3D. | Company | Area | Focus | |---|---|---| | **Reel FX** | Dallas | The region's flagship animation studio — animated features, short-form, commercial, and VR. Founded 1996; also has a Santa Monica presence. | | **Sector 5 Digital** | Irving / DFW | Industrial and technical 3D, AR/VR, trade show and experiential — the intersection of animation and simulation. | | **Industrial3D** | Dallas | Technical and industrial 3D animation. | | **900lbs of Creative** | Dallas | Motion, design, and production. | | **Nametag Films** | Dallas | Commercial production and animation. | | **1820 Productions** | Dallas | Video, animation, motion. | | **3Headed Monster** | Dallas | Animation and design. | | **Hatch Studios** | Dallas | Animation and motion graphics. | | **Holmes Millet Studios** | Dallas | Script-to-screen production, 3D and VFX. | | **LINEINMOTION** | Dallas | 3D animation, motion graphics, VFX. | | **Mayhem Media** | Dallas | Post-production, editorial, motion graphics. | | **Visual Odyssee** | Dallas | Compositing, roto, matte painting, 3D and stop motion. | | **Rawmen Media** | Dallas | Animation and content. | | **Blue Logic** | Fort Worth | Video and animation production. | | **EnMedia Solutions** | Fort Worth | Motion graphics and editorial. | **Advertising and agency creative** — Dallas has one of the larger agency economies in the country, and agencies hire motion designers steadily. Look at the DSVC and AIGA DFW member and job boards rather than trying to list agencies here; those boards are maintained and this document isn't. --- ## 3. Simulation, XR, Visualization & Technical **Read this section carefully. It is the most overlooked and probably the most realistic path for a two-year graduate in North Texas.** The skills are the same — modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging, real-time engines. The work is training simulations, technical visualization, medical and scientific animation, and architectural viz. The pay is often better than entry-level games, the hours are more humane, and the applicant queue is a fraction as long, because most graduates only apply to game studios. ### Aerospace, defense & training DFW is a major aerospace and defense center, and modern training programs run on simulation and real-time visualization. | Employer | Area | Relevance | |---|---|---| | **Lockheed Martin** | Fort Worth, Grand Prairie | F-35 production and training systems; simulation and training roles are a recurring category. Also operates a Rapid Fielding Center in Grand Prairie. | | **Bell (Textron)** | Fort Worth | Rotorcraft; engineering visualization and training content. | | **L3Harris** | Arlington area | Commercial and military aviation training and simulation. | | **RTX / Raytheon** | McKinney | Sensor and vision systems; visualization and simulation work. | Roles at these companies often carry titles that don't say "artist" — *visualization specialist*, *3D modeler*, *training systems developer*, *technical illustrator*, *media specialist*. **Search by skill and software, not by job title**, or you will miss them entirely. Some positions require U.S. citizenship or eligibility for a security clearance; check before you invest time. ### XR, immersive & experiential | Company | Area | Focus | |---|---|---| | **Groove Jones** | Dallas | AR/VR/XR, real-time interactive, brand and experiential. Founded 2015; heavily awarded. | | **Sector 5 Digital** | Irving / DFW | Enterprise AR/VR, industrial visualization *(also listed above)*. | | **SURVIVR** | DFW | VR training for first responders. | | **Musketeers Tech** | Dallas / Fort Worth | VR training simulations, AR, 3D product experiences. | | **EuphoriaXR** | Dallas | AR/VR for aviation maintenance, safety, and crew training. | ### Architectural visualization Dallas has a large architecture and commercial real estate sector, and the big firms run in-house visualization teams — **HKS**, **Gensler**, **Perkins&Will**, **Corgan** and others all have significant Dallas presences, alongside independent arch-viz shops. The work is real-time and offline rendering, lighting, and environment craft. Look at architecture firm careers pages under "visualization" and "digital practice." ### Medical, scientific & technical **UT Southwestern Medical Center** (Dallas) and the broader medical and biotech cluster generate ongoing demand for medical illustration, surgical animation, and scientific visualization. Specialized, well-paid, and almost nobody from a game art program applies. --- ## 4. Location-Based Entertainment, Attractions & Brand Corporate creative teams at entertainment companies — an often-invisible employer of animation, motion, and real-time skills. | Company | Area | Relevance | |---|---|---| | **Six Flags Entertainment** | Arlington (corporate) | Attractions media, in-park content, brand creative. | | **Topgolf** | Dallas (HQ) | Venue content and the Toptracer product — real-time graphics, motion, UI. | | **CEC Entertainment (Chuck E. Cheese)** | Irving (HQ) | In-venue animation and media production; historically an animation employer. | Also worth watching: museums and science centers (Perot Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History), which commission animation and interactive media; and the broader immersive-attraction sector, which has grown steadily in North Texas. --- ## 5. Organizations, Events & Communities | | What it is | How to start | |---|---|---| | **Collin Guest Speaker Series** | Departmental speakers, monthly this fall at Frisco or Wylie; **Portfolio Review speakers in December, likely Wylie** | One fall session is required for your Networking Log. Watch Canvas Announcements. | | **IGDA Dallas** | Dallas chapter of the International Game Developers Association — regular meetups and social events | Go once, talk to two people, leave. That's a complete first attempt. Entry-level friendly by design. | | **Society of Play** *(formerly Dallas Society of Play)* | 501(c) non-profit game developer community, ~10 years running, based in **North Dallas**. Twice-monthly meetups plus game jams, tournaments, and mini-conventions. Talks, postmortems, tutorials, workshops. | **Probably the best first event for a nervous student in this room.** Explicitly for everyone at every level — hobbyist, student, "just considering game dev," full-time AAA. Published code of conduct. Active Discord. They also run a **touring arcade cabinet** of member-made indie games that goes to festivals and conventions — free to submit to, and a genuine reciprocity opportunity if you help run it. | | **Tech Arts Meetup (TAM)** | DFW technical art community founded by **Nelson Lim** — Professor of VFX and Games at **UT Dallas (ATEC)**, 15+ years in CG including ILM, Visual Effects Society board manager, SideFX Houdini Academy advisor. Meets the **third Thursday of each month**, free. | Networking, talks, and sharing for riggers, sim artists, shader artists, and pipeline developers — plus "tech artists in-the-making," which is you. Recurring topics: **Houdini, Maya, Python, Unreal, Unity, simulation, scripting, shading.** If you have any pull toward tech art, this is the highest-value recurring event in the region for you, and the barrier to entry is a Thursday evening. | | **A Bunch of Short Guys (ABOSG)** | Dallas-based **non-profit animation guild**, founded to build a community of artists and storytellers for professionals, educators, **and students**. The umbrella organization behind both Industry Giants and Industry Insights. Collin College is among their listed sponsors, alongside Reel FX, Explosm, Texas Film Commission, Women in Film Dallas, and Media Tech Institute. | `abosg.org` (also `abunchofshortguys.org`) · Facebook group `facebook.com/abunchofshortguys` · LinkedIn group · events ticketed through **Humanitix**. Follow them on Humanitix to get alerts for new events — that's the most reliable notification channel. | | **Industry Giants 2026** | The **20th annual** conference — the only animation, VFX, and game development conference of its kind in Texas. **Saturday, October 3, 2026, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.**, Edith O'Donnell Arts & Technology Building, **UT Dallas**, Richardson. | 400+ artists from dozens of studios and every major North Texas school. Five main speakers, three figure-drawing instructors, **portfolio reviews**, artist alley, after party. Ticketed — early-bird GA was $50 through July 30; check current pricing. **Register with your .edu email or your ticket may be rejected.** Student discount codes exist; ask. **This is the single highest-density day in the region for this cohort, and it falls the day after our Week 6 class.** | | **Industry Insights** | ABOSG's **monthly free talk series** — the small-scale companion to Industry Giants. Typically **Saturdays, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.**, usually at Dallas College Brookhaven (3939 Valley View Ln, Dallas), sometimes at Collin College Plano or Movie Institute North Studio in Plano. | Announced through **Humanitix** and the **ABOSG Facebook group**. Free RSVP. Recent sessions: Tony Tyler, Director of Pipeline at **DreamWorks Animation**, on "Pipelines, Metadata and You!"; **900 lbs of Creative** on the pipeline behind a touring educational micro-game installation; concept art with Omar Siddiqui and James Wintle. **Two hours, free, on a Saturday, with a working professional in the room** — probably the best cost-to-value event on this entire page. | | **Game jams** | Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare, local and university jams | The fastest way to turn strangers into people who have **shipped something with you**. Also the fastest proof you finish under a clock. | | **DSVC** | Dallas Society of Visual Communications — designers, ADs, illustrators, animators, videographers | Monthly speaker meetings, the Dallas Show, National Student Show, and a job board. Student-friendly. | | **AIGA Dallas–Fort Worth** | Professional design association chapter | Events and programming; relevant if you're motion or design-adjacent. | | **Discord servers** | Studio-adjacent, tool-specific, and regional | Where referrals actually get passed. Lurking is not networking; answering someone else's technical question is. | | **University-adjacent programs** | SMU Guildhall (Plano), UT Dallas ATEC (Richardson) | Public talks, showcases, and jams. **You do not have to be enrolled to attend public events** — Tech Arts Meetup at UTD is the clearest example. | ### Links - Society of Play — `dallassocietyofplay.org` · also on Meetup, Discord, and Patreon - Tech Arts Meetup — `nelsonlim.com/tam` · registration via Ticket Tailor - IGDA Dallas — `igda.org/chapters/us-tx-dallas` · also on Meetup - A Bunch of Short Guys — `abosg.org` · `facebook.com/abunchofshortguys` · events on Humanitix under host "A Bunch of Short Guys" - Industry Giants — `industrygiants.org` · tickets: `events.humanitix.com/industry-giants-2026` - DSVC — `dsvc.org` - AIGA Dallas–Fort Worth — `dallasftworth.aiga.org` > Most of these communities live on **Discord** day to day rather than on their websites. Join the server the same evening you attend your first event, while someone still remembers meeting you. --- ## 6. How to research a company you've found Ten minutes per company, and it's the difference between an outreach message that gets answered and one that doesn't. 1. **Careers page.** Not a job board aggregator — the company's own page. What have they posted in the last six months? What do their junior postings actually require? 2. **LinkedIn.** How many employees, and is that number moving? Who works there in your discipline? Trace how they got there — their path is data about yours. 3. **Recent output.** What did they ship or release in the last year? You need one specific thing to reference, and it has to be true. 4. **News from the last six months.** Funding, layoffs, acquisitions, studio openings. Local trade coverage is useful for this. 5. **The named human.** One person, in or near your discipline, whose work you can honestly say something specific about. Not the CEO. Not "HR." Preferably someone two to six years ahead of you, because that circle answers messages. Then write the note: four sentences, under 120 words, with the second sentence proving you're not mass-mailing. --- ## 7. A realistic read of this market **North Texas is a genuine hub, and it is not Los Angeles.** There are real studios here, several with long histories, and the cost of living is a fraction of the coastal markets. There are also fewer AAA seats than there are graduates who want them — which is true everywhere, and is not a reason for despair. **The games and animation sectors have had rough hiring cycles recently.** Pretending otherwise would do you no favors. The practical consequences: keep your portfolio current *while employed* (this is exactly when everyone stops), keep your network warm on a schedule rather than on need, build a cash runway, and know what your NDA permits you to show. **The adjacent sectors are where the volume is.** Simulation, training, arch viz, medical and technical visualization, motion design, XR, and corporate creative hire more junior artists in this region than game studios do, and hire them faster. **An adjacent first job is a strategy, not a failure.** It buys shipped credits, production discipline learned from someone senior, and rent — while your portfolio keeps maturing. Students who hold out for the dream studio while their newest piece ages past twelve months lose twice: they don't get the dream job, and their work goes stale while they wait. --- *Compiled from public directories and company sources, August 2026. Verify everything before you act on it — that's the skill this document is really teaching.*