FIEA Student Game Wins MTV Prize

An AIDS awareness game called The Face of AIDS, made by five students from the University of Central Florida’s Interactive Entertainment Academy has won the “Change the Course of HIV” Game Challenge, hosted by MTVU, a college-focused network owned by MTV. The competition was held in recognition of World AIDS Day. The five FIEA students who created the winning game are Brendan McLeod and Matthew Laurence (designers), Chris Camilleri and Gabriel Montagne (programmers), and artist Chip Lundell. The Face of AIDS was developed in a mere month at the University of Central Florida in March 2007. The title is a fast-paced puzzle game designed to raise AIDS awareness. Players must help communities of ever-increasing size stop the spread of AIDS as well as quell the fear and ignorance that rises with it. MTVU and the Kaiser Family Foundation sponsored the competition, which asked college students to propose a viral, web-based video game concept to help raise awareness about HIV/AIDS among 15 to 24 year olds. According to a press release, the game will be published in early 2008.