Game Republic has announced details of the sixth annual Student Showcase, which is to be held at the Leeds College of Art on Thursday 30th May. This year’s Game Republic Student Showcase 2013 is the biggest-ever event for the Yorkshire and northern England games network, celebrating its tenth birthday this year, with six universities and colleges and four Yorkshire games companies taking part.
The Showcase allows final-year and postgraduate games course students to display their best work to some of the most successful games developers in the region, which this year features Sumo Digital, Just Add Water, Revolution Software and Four Door Lemon, who are also all sponsoring and judging the privately-run event.
Last year’s Student Showcase featured more than 80 students and 25 projects, and in 2013 this is set to increase as the Game Republic network now has six Educational Partners – the University of Bradford, Leeds Metropolitan University, the University of Huddersfield, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of York and Leeds College of Art.
Mike Smith Programme Leader of BA (Hons) Animation at Leeds College of Art said, “We are thrilled and excited to host this year’s event. The Student Showcase is a fantastic opportunity for students to speak directly to professionals in the games industry and gain valuable feedback about their work.”
Game Republic companies continue to sponsor and show incredible support for the Student Showcase since its inception six years ago, including Sheffield-based Sumo Digital, one of the UK’s largest independent games developers. Prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in four categories – Game Design, Game Art, Game Technology and Best Team – and previous awards have led to work placements and full-time employment for dozens of games graduates in the north of England.
“Just Add Water is delighted to be involved in the Game Republic Student Showcase again this year, “ said Stewart Gilray, CEO of Just Add Water. “It’s a great way for students to meet prospective companies and for studios to see what talent Yorkshire and the north has to offer. We’ve even hired two of the finalists straight out of university for our Oddworld projects!”
“We’re looking forward to seeing the results of all the hard work that is put into the projects by the students,” said Simon Barratt, Managing Director of Four Door Lemon. “In recent years we’ve been able to take on graduates we discovered at the events as full-time employees so it has proven to be a very important event for us.”
For information and a video of last year’s Student Showcase, click here.