Gaming Team Competes at SXSQ Conference

A video game created by a team of BGSU students was chosen for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Gaming Pitch Competition in Austin, Texas this spring. Developer Che Shian Hung—a computer science student who graduated in December 2016—along with producer and director Xiao Yang and Jonathan Ampiaw—both digital arts students—and several more students rounded out the team.

In “Come Back Home: The Tale of Anaaya,” a girl must find out why her village has vanished and how she can reunite with her people. Once the narrative concept was decided, the team spent many hours developing the environment, the aesthetic components, and the programming. They had a great experience and received valuable feedback on how to enhance their fledgling game and navigate the competitive gaming industry.

BGSU’s involvement in the international competition was significant. Last year’s attendance to the event was over 76,000 people from around the world. The major players in the field of game development attend the event and the judges are prominent professionals in the field.

The BGSU gaming team stemmed from a collaboration between students in two courses: “Art and Virtual Environments” and “Software Engineering Project.”