Ringling College graduate Trent Sivek (Game Art, ’17) has been announced as this year’s E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) College Game Competition first place winner, after exhibiting his game, Phonetica, at the E3 showroom this past week in Los Angeles. An interactive game in which the players make their way through a musical palace, Sivek created Phonetica as a Ringling College Game Art senior thesis project, and it was selected in early May as one of five finalists chosen from over 400 colleges and universities. This marks the first time in the history of the Ringling College Game Art program that a student or graduate’s work has been selected for the E3 College Game Competition. On top of that, Sivek conceived, created and programmed the game by himself, competing against and defeating games in the competition that were created by teams of many students. In the first round of the competition, the judging panel selects five entrants based on the following criteria: originality, creativity and technical proficiency. To advance to the next round, a finalist must be accompanied to the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, where the judges review once more based on the above criteria. The entrant with the highest score wins.

Ringling College of Art & Design