Alumni Chen & Santiago

Thatgamecompany

The Wall Street Journal featured Interactive Media alums Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, whose successful Thatgamecompany was born out of graduate work at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

At a conference several years ago, Chen and Santiago presented their game Cloud, which they developed thanks to an innovation grant. Sony executives liked it so much that they signed the pair to a three-game deal.

“Similar to the ‘New Hollywood’ movement of the 1970s that gave rise to film directors such as George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, this gaming culture is launching its own stars who are both challenging the industry’s traditions and working with larger publishers,” the story stated.

Chen, who came to USC from China in 2003, excelled at the school’s “play-centric design” atmosphere that had him mocking up ideas based on an emotion or theme.

“He seemed to really question in his own mind, ‘Why do you want to make games?’” recalled IMD associate professor Tracy Fullerton, who worked closely with him.

Thatgamecompany’s newest game Flower comes out early next year.

Associated Person:

Tracy Fullerton