ATLANTA (March 5, 2025) – Spelman College’s Innovation Lab will host its third annual HBCU Game Jam from March 28 – March 30, 2025, in the Robert W. Woodruff Library. At the 24-hour hackathon, Historically Black College and University students will build their own video games and compete for industry-sponsored prizes. For the first time since its start, the HBCU Game Jam will be planned entirely by students.
The HBCU Game Jam is a beginner friendly competition that introduces students to the game development process, hosted in collaboration with Zynga, Microsoft, Unity, CodeHouse and Boeing. According to a survey conducted by the International Game Developers Association, Black people hold only 5% of jobs within the gaming industry. HBCU Game Jam works to combat this by hosting free game development workshops and seminars ahead of the competition to even the playing field and give students a crash-course in video game creation.
Over 120 students from six HBCUs participated in the 2024 Game Jam. Approximately 50% of them had never made a video game before participating in the competition. To view a recap of HBCU Game Jam, click here.
“We at Spelman Innovation are excited to champion our amazing HBCU game development community and continue to break barriers for what it means to be a game developer in the gaming industry,” said Jaycee Holmes, C'2016, assistant professor of art and visual culture at Spelman and co-director of Spelman Innovation. “I am especially proud of the leadership demonstrated by our student co-chairs and organizing committee, and I cannot wait for everyone to see the magic they’ve created.”
New this year, the hackathon will kick off on Friday, March 28 at 10 a.m. with the inaugural HBCU Game Jam Day Conference. The conference will feature workshops, seminars and an industry career fair for students to learn about game development and meet their fellow competitors. The 24-hour competition will officially begin on Saturday, March 29 at 10 a.m. and continue until Sunday, March 30, at the Woodruff Library. On Sunday, the participants will begin preparing for the Game Jam Expo where they will present their games to the judges for the chance to win prizes.
For more information about 2025 HBCU Game Jam, please visit Spelman.edu.