 He then went to the United States to earn a master 's degree in the School of <unk> Arts at the University of Southern California . Chen studied in the Interactive Media Program , a new division of the School of <unk> Arts . His intention at the time was to use the degree to get the kind of job he wanted back in China . At USC , he became inspired when he went to the Game Developers Conference , where he positively compared the games he had made in college with the student work present at the Independent Games Festival portion of the conference . While at USC he met Kellee Santiago , another student in the same program , and the two decided to work together on games that would be outside of the mainstream . Their first game , which won a grant of twenty thousand dollars from USC to produce , was Cloud , released in 2005 , which " focuses on a young hospital patient who <unk> in his mind despite being trapped indoors " . The idea was partially based on himself , as when he was a child he was often hospitalized for asthma . It was designed as an attempt to " expand the spectrum of emotions video games evoke " . At a student showcase at the Game Developers Conference , Chen and Santiago showed the game to a representative from Sony , John <unk> , saying that it was the first game in the " <unk> " genre . <unk> was interested , though no deal was forthcoming . The game won the Best Student Philosophy award at the <unk> <unk> Games Competition and a Student <unk> award at the Independent Games Festival , and was showcased on Spike TV , G4TV , and CBS Sunday . 
