Kellee Santiago
Encyclopedia
Kellee Santiago is a video game designer and producer, and the co-founder and president of Thatgamecompany
. Santiago was born in Caracas
, Venezuela
and was raised in Richmond, Virginia
, where she played video games from a young age and was encouraged by her software engineer
father to experiment with computers. During college at the Tisch School of the Arts
of New York University
, she became active in experimental theater, and intended to pursue it after earning a master's degree
in the Interactive Media Program
of the School of Cinematic Arts
at the University of Southern California
. While there, however, she became involved in video game design, and produced Cloud, developed by Jenova Chen
and a student team. Its success sparked her and Chen to found Thatgamecompany
upon graduating, and she became the president.
Santiago produced the studio's first two games, Flow and Flower
, moving more into her president role during the development of the company's current project, Journey. In addition to her work at Thatgamecompany, Santiago is one of the backers of the Indie Fund, a group which invests in the development of independent video games, and is a TED
fellow. She married fellow University of Southern California graduate Mike Stein in 2010.
, Venezuela
, and was raised in Richmond, Virginia
. She played video games from a young age, cooperatively playing them with her younger brother; one of her earliest games was Sleuth
, which she describes as "simple, but so effective and so evocative" in instilling emotion in the player. Her father, a software engineer, had a computer in the house from when she was young, and encouraged Santiago to experiment with it. She moved to New York City
at the age of 18 for college at the Tisch School of the Arts
of New York University
, where she was involved in amateur theater. She focused in theater on developing new works, rather than adapting older ones, and was especially drawn towards incorporating interactive digital media into her works. She ascribes this to her father's work in software engineering
and her experiments with computers, which drove her into using them in her performances as she had more experience than the others in her group.
She moved to Los Angeles
in 2003 when she was 24, and studied towards a master's degree
in the Interactive Media Program
of the School of Cinematic Arts
at the University of Southern California
. Her intention was to remain in theater, but in her second semester took a class taught by Tracy Fullerton
on the history of game design, which inspired her to focus her studies on video game design instead. The class caused her to realize "how much hadn't been done" in the realm of communication and expression in video games and the lack of established structure and rules as to how it was best to make games, which appealed to the part of her that was interested in experimental theater. While at school she produced the award-winning game Cloud, developed by Jenova Chen
and a student team, and also worked on other video games such as Darfur is Dying
.
Cloud was intended as an experiment by the group to see if they could create a game that "expressed something different than video games had in the past", as well as determine the level of interest in the gaming community for video games of that nature. The game received over 400,000 downloads in the first four months after release, "more than every single person in every single theater [she] had ever worked in," which convinced Santiago to remain in the video game industry permanently. The strong response to the game, released in 2005, inspired her and Chen to consider founding their own company to continue making games like it after they left school—where the design was based on the emotions they wanted to inspire rather than gameplay mechanics.
in May 2006, with a contract with Sony Computer Entertainment
to develop three games for the PlayStation Network. In addition to her role as president of the company, she also initially served as the producer for the studio. Despite this title, she was still involved in the design of the games as well. The first game was Flow, an adaptation of a game that Chen had made for his thesis at USC, which was released in 2007. The game caused the studio to be noted as a key figure of independent video game development
; in 2008, Gamasutra
recognized the studio as one of the "20 Breakthrough Developers" of the year, emphasizing Santiago's key role. The second game for the studio, and the first to be completely original to the company, was Flower
, released in 2009. Both titles were heavily praised by critics and received several awards, as well as garnering high sales. For the studio's third game, the upcoming Journey, Thatgamecompany hired Robin Hunicke
as the producer, allowing Santiago to focus more on directing the company as a whole.
In 2009, Santiago became a TED
fellow, giving a talk at a USC conference where she discussed whether video games were art, which was responded to a year later by Roger Ebert
. Santiago is one of the backers of the Indie Fund, started in March 2010, a group which invests in the development of independent video games. In October 2010, Santiago married Mike Stein, whom she met while they were both at the University of Southern California.
industry by funding and connecting independent game developers.
Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...
. Santiago was born in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and was raised in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, where she played video games from a young age and was encouraged by her software engineer
Software engineer
A software engineer is an engineer who applies the principles of software engineering to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers or anything containing software, such as computer chips, work.- Overview :...
father to experiment with computers. During college at the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, she became active in experimental theater, and intended to pursue it after earning a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in the Interactive Media Program
USC Interactive Media Division
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive...
of the School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. While there, however, she became involved in video game design, and produced Cloud, developed by Jenova Chen
Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen , known as Jenova Chen, is the designer of the award-winning games Cloud, Flow, and Flower, and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany. Chen is from Shanghai, where he earned a bachelors degree in computer science and a minor in digital art and design...
and a student team. Its success sparked her and Chen to found Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...
upon graduating, and she became the president.
Santiago produced the studio's first two games, Flow and Flower
Flower (video game)
Flower is a PlayStation 3 video game. It was developed by Thatgamecompany, designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark, and announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Flower was released on February 12, 2009, via the PlayStation Network. The game was intended as a "spiritual successor" to Flow, a...
, moving more into her president role during the development of the company's current project, Journey. In addition to her work at Thatgamecompany, Santiago is one of the backers of the Indie Fund, a group which invests in the development of independent video games, and is a TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
fellow. She married fellow University of Southern California graduate Mike Stein in 2010.
Biography
Santiago was born in CaracasCaracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, and was raised in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. She played video games from a young age, cooperatively playing them with her younger brother; one of her earliest games was Sleuth
Sleuth (computer game)
Sleuth is a text-based "whodunit" computer-game created by Eric N. Miller of Norland Software. It was first released in 1983. When the game starts, a murder has just been committed. The object of the game is to solve the murder mystery by examining the house and talking to its occupants. Being a...
, which she describes as "simple, but so effective and so evocative" in instilling emotion in the player. Her father, a software engineer, had a computer in the house from when she was young, and encouraged Santiago to experiment with it. She moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the age of 18 for college at the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, where she was involved in amateur theater. She focused in theater on developing new works, rather than adapting older ones, and was especially drawn towards incorporating interactive digital media into her works. She ascribes this to her father's work in software engineering
Software engineering
Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
and her experiments with computers, which drove her into using them in her performances as she had more experience than the others in her group.
She moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2003 when she was 24, and studied towards a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in the Interactive Media Program
USC Interactive Media Division
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive...
of the School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Her intention was to remain in theater, but in her second semester took a class taught by Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton is an American game designer, educator and writer. She is currently an Associate Professor in the USC Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab. In December of 2008, she was installed as the holder of...
on the history of game design, which inspired her to focus her studies on video game design instead. The class caused her to realize "how much hadn't been done" in the realm of communication and expression in video games and the lack of established structure and rules as to how it was best to make games, which appealed to the part of her that was interested in experimental theater. While at school she produced the award-winning game Cloud, developed by Jenova Chen
Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen , known as Jenova Chen, is the designer of the award-winning games Cloud, Flow, and Flower, and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany. Chen is from Shanghai, where he earned a bachelors degree in computer science and a minor in digital art and design...
and a student team, and also worked on other video games such as Darfur is Dying
Darfur is Dying
Darfur is Dying is a flash-based browser game about the crisis in Darfur, western Sudan. The game won the Darfur Digital Activist Contest sponsored by mtvU. Released in April 2006, more than 800,000 people had played by September...
.
Cloud was intended as an experiment by the group to see if they could create a game that "expressed something different than video games had in the past", as well as determine the level of interest in the gaming community for video games of that nature. The game received over 400,000 downloads in the first four months after release, "more than every single person in every single theater [she] had ever worked in," which convinced Santiago to remain in the video game industry permanently. The strong response to the game, released in 2005, inspired her and Chen to consider founding their own company to continue making games like it after they left school—where the design was based on the emotions they wanted to inspire rather than gameplay mechanics.
Thatgamecompany
Upon graduating, she and Chen founded ThatgamecompanyThatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...
in May 2006, with a contract with Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
to develop three games for the PlayStation Network. In addition to her role as president of the company, she also initially served as the producer for the studio. Despite this title, she was still involved in the design of the games as well. The first game was Flow, an adaptation of a game that Chen had made for his thesis at USC, which was released in 2007. The game caused the studio to be noted as a key figure of independent video game development
Independent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
; in 2008, Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
recognized the studio as one of the "20 Breakthrough Developers" of the year, emphasizing Santiago's key role. The second game for the studio, and the first to be completely original to the company, was Flower
Flower (video game)
Flower is a PlayStation 3 video game. It was developed by Thatgamecompany, designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark, and announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Flower was released on February 12, 2009, via the PlayStation Network. The game was intended as a "spiritual successor" to Flow, a...
, released in 2009. Both titles were heavily praised by critics and received several awards, as well as garnering high sales. For the studio's third game, the upcoming Journey, Thatgamecompany hired Robin Hunicke
Robin Hunicke
Robin Hunicke is a video game designer and producer, currently working at thatgamecompany. Hunicke began her career at Electronic Arts, where she worked on multiple games, including Sims 2 and MySims as a designer, and Boom Blox and Boom Blox: Bash Party as a producer...
as the producer, allowing Santiago to focus more on directing the company as a whole.
In 2009, Santiago became a TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
fellow, giving a talk at a USC conference where she discussed whether video games were art, which was responded to a year later by Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
. Santiago is one of the backers of the Indie Fund, started in March 2010, a group which invests in the development of independent video games. In October 2010, Santiago married Mike Stein, whom she met while they were both at the University of Southern California.
Influences and philosophy
Santiago describes her work at Thatgamecompany as creating emotional responses, in order to demonstrate that video games can create a wider range of experiences than are typically shown. She feels that Thatgamecompany's goal is "to create games that push the boundaries of videogames as a communicative medium, and to create games that appeal to a wide variety of people." Through this she hopes to change the rest of the industry to also approach making videogames as a "creative medium" rather than a product. She, both independently with the Indie Fund and through Thatgamecompany has tried to support the independent video game developmentIndependent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
industry by funding and connecting independent game developers.
External links
- Kellee Santiago official website
- Kellee Santiago on ThatgamecompanyThatgamecompanyThatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...