Gay Gaming Professionals and Raw Thrills awarded $90,000 in cash prizes to college students during the inaugural Collegiate Games Challenge (CGC), a new national competition celebrating innovation in student game development.
Livestreamed on the GGP twitch channel, and supported by media partner IGN.com, the event showcased award-winning projects from scholastic institutions such as University of Southern California, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Michigan State University. (See full list below)
Memorable moments from the livestream included accolades from industry veterans who served as competition judges, such as Ed Fries, Leo Olebe and Amir Satvat, as well as Gordon Bellamy, President at GGP, and emcee Keisha Howard AKA Sugargamer. Additional feedback and judging came from industry judges such as Kendall Boyd, Scott Cookson, Chris Younger, and Clive Lindop.
“After such an exciting and brilliant first year hosting the Collegiate Games Challenge, we want to express our gratitude for this amazing community of industry executives and college professors who shared their time, expertise, and passion,” said Gordon Bellamy, CEO of GGP, in a statement. “ These students rose to the challenge, and submitted phenomenal games, trailers and business strategies. Talent truly is found everywhere – especially when given access and the resources to thrive.”
2025 Collegiate Games Challenge Awards
Interactive Category
Honoring excellence in student-led game development, this category highlights original student video games that showcase creative design, technical innovation, and compelling interactive experiences.
- 1st: Smoke Break! by Irene Park and team (University of Southern California).
- 2nd: Daemon by Keith Lerner and team (Michigan State University).
- 3rd: Desecration by Michael Betar and team (Indiana University).
- Honorable Mentions:
- Character Animation and Mocap: VeloCity by Chailey Sechrist and team (Drexel University).
- Game Intro Experience: Perfect Soup! by Silver MacAuley and team (DePaul University).
- Game Systems: Guilds of Greybrook by Dani Cervera and team (Michigan State University).
- Innovative Concept: Everybody’s War #WW1 by Robbie Sieczkowski and team (University of Illinois).
Cinematic Category
Showcasing excellence in visual storytelling, game marketing, and promotional creativity, this track invites students to produce compelling video game trailers—whether through live action, CGI, gameplay capture, or a hybrid approach—that demonstrate both creative flair and strategic communication.
- 1st: Juvenate by Miles Whitaker and team (Savannah College of Art and Design).
- 2nd: Smoke Break! by Irene Park and team (University of Southern California).
- 3rd: Would You Love Me if I was a Worm by Madhupriya Basu and team (University of Southern California).
- Honorable Mentions:
- Game Footage: Chef Niya by Imani Peters and team (Indiana University).
- Emotional Impact: Notes for Lightness by Madhupriya Basu and team (University of Southern California).
- Technical Execution: VeloCity by Chailey Sechrist and team (Drexel University).
- Originality: Desecration by Michael Betar and team (Indiana University).
Business Category
Highlighting excellence in game marketing strategy and commercial planning, this track challenges graduate-level business students to create a comprehensive Go-To-Market (GTM) plan for one of four major upcoming video game releases
- 1st: MIGA Musketeers team (University of Southern California).
- 2nd: Kate Oh and team (University of Washington)
- 3rd: Yoshi Egg-celerators team (University of Southern California).
- Honorable Mention:
- Launch Tactics: Collect and Cruise team (University of California, Los Angeles).
August 13, 2025 marks just the beginning of the Collegiate Games Challenge. Students interested in next year’s competition can join the Collegiate Games Challenge Discord community now, to playtest student peers’ work, network and learn from the judges:
Join the CGC on Discord.
Faculty and industry executives can sign up for email updates or contact [email protected] to get involved.