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SALT LAKE CITY — Students in the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering program have produced their first video game released through the Utah Game Forge, the U. announced Tuesday.
The game, titled "Heroes of Hat," is a multi-player fantasy adventure game and can be downloaded through the Xbox Live Marketplace. Two additional games — "Erie" and "Tactical" — are scheduled to be released soon through Utah Game Forge, a U.-owned company designed to assist students in publishing games.
"It's one thing to make a game. It's another to release a game into the world and have folks pay to play it," Roger Altizer, director of game design and production, said. "We're so proud to have a game as good as 'Heroes of Hat' as our first title published by the Utah Game Forge."
It's one thing to make a game. It's another to release a game into the world and have folks pay to play it. We're so proud to have a game as good as 'Heroes of Hat' as our first title published by the Utah Game Forge.
–Roger Altizer
"Heroes of Hat" was created by a team of undergraduate students as their capstone project. The team was led by Damean Lyon, who graduated in May 2012.
"I couldn't have had a better team, or project, to finish up the EAE program," Lyon said in a prepared statement. "It was a true challenge to create a multi- player game, and it prepared me like no other project for the challenges of the real world of game design."
The Entertainment Arts and Engineering program is offered as an interdisciplinary emphasis through the School of Computing and the Department of Film and Media Arts. The program is in its fifth year and is ranked third in the nation for undergraduate video game design programs, according to U. officials.
