Leeds College of Art is hosting an event next Thursday (30th) which brings together all the region’s leading video games companies and final year games students from Yorkshire’s Universities, where the companies select the leading young games talent, and prizes are awarded. It’s now the biggest showcase for games students in the North and often leads to jobs for the students with the companies, reports Sean McGeady (@MacTingz) …
This Thursday, game design students from six Yorkshire universities and colleges and four Yorkshire game companies collect to demonstrate and reward fledgling industry talent at the sixth annual Game Republic Student Showcase, hosted by Leeds College of Art.
The biggest ever event for the games network in the north of England, the Student Showcase offers final-year and postgraduate students the opportunity to display their work to the region’s most successful games developers.
This year’s developers — who are also sponsoring and judging the event — are Four Door Lemon, Just Add Water, Revolution Software and Sumo Digital, companies that, between them, have developed games across multiple platforms, and had games published by Disney Interactive, EA, Sega, and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Last year’s event featured over 80 students and 25 projects. This is set to increase, as students from Game Republic’s six Educational Partners – the University of Bradford, the University of Huddersfield, Leeds Metropolitan University, Sheffield Hallam, the University of York and Leeds College of Art -demonstrate their creative talents. The event allows students to gain valuable feedback on their work and advice on progression within a fiercely competitive industry by speaking directly with experienced industry professionals.
As well as the showcase, in which students will display everything from individual art portfolios and character design to visual effects and full games, 22 individual and team entries will be judged across four awards categories.
Awards are presented for Game Design, Game Art, Game Technology and Best Team, with prizes for first, second and third place. Sadly, game sound design remains a grievously undervalued aspect of video game design and is not formally recognised by Game Republic as an awards category. (Personal opinion, Sean? Ed)
The event is important to the development of creative talent within the region, and past events have lead to many graduates receiving full-time employment.
The event will also include a presentation from guest speaker Jon Hare, owner of Tower Studios and a founder of now-defunct Sensible Studios, one of Europe’s most successful games development companies during the 1990s, known for the hugely popular Sensible Soccer series. The event will also include a ‘Games state of the art’ discussion with the Game Republic industry panel.
If you have an interest in game development or just want a demonstration of some of our region’s most exciting artistic talent, the showcase is open to the public between 15:00 and 17:00 at Leeds College of Art.