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SALT LAKE CITY — Last week, a group of 12 University of Utah graduate students released a short computer game for free online download.
One week later, the program has been downloaded more than 82,000 times.
Though the game is simple in structure, team Retro Yeti’s 3-D playground runner invokes a powerful metaphor. 404Sight is set deep within cyberspace, where players search for “fast lanes” in a 14-level attempt to defeat the dastardly Internet service providers and save the Web.
“At face value, the game is a representation of what the Internet would look like without net neutrality,” explained Tina Kalinger, one of the group’s five student producers.
Like her teammates, Kalinger will graduate from the university's top-rated electronic arts and entertainment graduate program next month. 404Sight, the product of three semesters’ collaborative work, serves as her thesis project.
The controversial theme was primarily chosen to demonstrate Retro Yeti’s technical thesis work, said team artist Rachel Leiker, but also served as a megaphone for the team's universal support of "a free and open Internet."
“As a generation, we grew up with the Internet in our homes. It has never not been there,” Leiker said. “Loss of access became a sort of rallying point, both for our team and for our audience.”
In just seven days, 404Sight received more than 500 online reviews and a “very positive” user experience rating. More than 200 players have posted videos of their gaming experiences to YouTube.
“We’ve just been floored by the response,” said Brenton Walker, the game’s lead producer. “It’s not every day you see this level of support for a student game.”
As a generation, we grew up with the Internet in our homes. It has never not been there. Loss of access became a sort of rallying point, both for our team and for our audience.
–Rachel Leiker, team artist
"We thought it would get maybe 100 downloads, assuming all of our friends and family downloaded it," Kalinger said.
404Sight has also received a strong international response. According to Walker, nearly 30 percent of the game’s downloads come from Europe. The game has received unexpected media coverage in Germany, India, Spain and Russia, and has been reviewed in several different languages.
“Thank goodness for Google Translate,” Kalinger joked.
Once decoded, students said, international reviews are among the most rewarding feedback to read.
“It’s super cool hearing those reviews because a lot of people from other countries don’t know what net neutrality is,” said Kyle Chittenden, an artist. “They play our game and then look it up, which is exactly what we’re trying to do — get the message out.”
Walker attributed much of the game’s rapid rise to said message, which “hooks” opinionated Internet users.
“Mesh that hook with a quality product, and things just start to snowball,” he said.
Despite the increasingly profitable opportunity to monetize 404Sight, Retro Yeti remains committed to providing a free and accessible program.
"This game is our thank you to the Internet," Walker said.
