Jenova Chen

Lore & Background

Chen is from Shanghai, where he earned a bachelor's degree in computer science with a minor in digital art and design from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He moved to the United States, where he earned a master's degree from the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division. While there he created Cloud and Flow, and met fellow student Kellee Santiago. After a brief period at Maxis working on Spore, he founded Thatgamecompany with Santiago and became the company's creative director. The company signed a three-game deal with Sony Computer Entertainment, and has sold Flow, Flower, and Journey through the PlayStation Network.

Reader's Guide

As Chen was born in a culture other than the culture he lives in, he tries to make games that appeal universally to all people. His goal with his games is to help video games mature as a medium by making games that inspire emotional responses in the player that other games are lacking. Although he and Thatgamecompany can and have made more traditional games, he does not plan on commercially developing any of them, as he does not think that it fits with their goals as an independent video game developer.

Did You Know?

• Chen chose the English name Jenova after a character in Final Fantasy VII.
• His first major game, Cloud, won a grant of twenty thousand dollars from USC to produce.
• Flow became the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007.

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