All those hours playing video games could prove useful for some Boston University students who will receive credit for classes related to their hobby next semester.

As the fall semester comes to an end, the Metropolitan College computer sciences department will introduce for the spring a graduate program in interactive multimedia and game engineering, with a focus on video game technology.

Students can use credits from the program toward their Master of Computer Science degree, but the program is also designed to allow students to take courses as electives.

“We’re convinced that interdisciplinary areas like [game engineering] are interesting to our students,” said MET computer science department chairman Lou Chitkushev.

Acting on students suggesting a similar program, the computer science department had been working on the curriculum for two years, Chitkushev said.

Chitkushev said because the gaming field is complex, enrolled students should have a solid understanding of game theory.

Multimedia computing applications – such as mapping virtual worlds and using artificial intelligence to accurately reflect human actions – have been greatly developed in the last decade, Chitkushev noted. But these interactive simulations are not all fun and games – they are used by businesses and government institutions, such as the Homeland Security Department and the National Institutes of Health, he said.

The new program also introduces graphics, simulation and animation. It will offer four courses in computer graphics, advanced game graphics, real-time simulation and artificial intelligence.

The computer graphics and advanced graphics classes will cover basic sets of rules – called algorithms – and their applications in multimedia.

College of Arts and Sciences senior Eric Immerman said the program is beneficial to the computer sciences department because it allows students to learn non-traditional subjects like computer graphics and artificial intelligence, instead of more commonly taught subjects, such as networking and operating systems.

CAS computer science department chairman Stanley Sclaroff predicts the program will have a widespread appeal.

“This program is a cross between creative expression and the creativity of computer science,” Sclaroff said.