Winners of the Game Republic Student Showcase 2025 have been announced. Nearly 200 students from 14 Universities and colleges across the North of England gathered at Sheffield Hallam University on 17th June to compete in the Game Republic Student Showcase. The competition that tours Universities is in its 17th year and sees leading game studios who have made some of the biggest global games titles judge the art and animation, narrative design, technology, game design and teamwork. (See gallery of pictures at the end)
Final year teams competed in seven categories: Game Art and Animation, Game Technology, Game Narrative Design, Game Level Design, Game Design, Game Audio and Best Team. Projects were judged by leading games studios including Distinctive Games (Rugby League 24), Pitstop Productions (casting, voice and audio work for Baldur’s Gate 3), Red Kite Games (co-developer Hogwarts Legacy), Revolution Software (Broken Sword), Sumo Digital (Sackboy – A Big Adventure) andAtomhawk (creative and technical outsourcer for Age of Empires IV, Helldivers 2, and more). Distinctive Games sponsored the evening reception for the event which enabled students, academics and industry to network with free drinks and pizza.
Sheffield Hallam University student Anna Moore designed the “hopper” frog mascot for the event which was used on websites, posters, social media and on the limited-edition T-shirts produced for the event.
The GR Student Showcase forms part of the Game Republic events programme supported by Barclays Games and Creative, Xsolla and Red Kite Games.
Projects were presented by teams and individuals from Universities and colleges across the North including:
University Campus Doncaster, Grimsby Institute, University of Huddersfield, University of Hull, University of Leeds, University Centre Leeds, Leeds City College, University of Greater Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Salford, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Staffordshire, Wakefield College and York St John University
MD of Game Republic Jamie Sefton said “It was a fantastic day and we were all so impressed with the standard of games, tech, art and animation being presented. It was very difficult for all the judges to make their decisions on the winning individual and teams with such excellent work on display from playable games to new technologies, from fantastic character art, animations to brilliant audio and of course great teamwork. Every single participant should be proud of being chosen by their University or college to present at the Showcase.”
Nigel Little, Distinctive Games said that the quality of work was amazing and that the student teams had done a huge amount of work, with lots of great projects to judge between which made it really difficult”
Graeme Allarton from Sumo said that it was clear that there was “a whole lot of passion and heart in the projects”
Tom Leighton judge from Atomhawk said the team had been “blown away by the variety and quality of work shown at the Showcase.”
Chris Kolev and Callum Jones from Pitstop Productions described the work as “fantastic and already at industry standard.”
Simon Iwaniszak, Red Kite Games said that “the Game Technology Award always brought a wide range of entries, and that seeing teams build game engines was really important.”
Sam Hayes, Revolution praised the narrative design entries that meant “we were judging right up to the wire.”
Judges for best team congratulated all teams for “putting something of creative value into the world.”
The winners of the Game Republic Student Showcase
The Atomhawk Award for Game Art and Animation
1st Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Alex Breary – The Fly By
2nd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Arash Hadavi – Character Art Portfolio
3rd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Fever Dream Tangerine – Parasol Protocol
Calum Short, Joshua Sykes-Ellis, Ricco Vergara, Mudaber Ahmed, Maisy Adams, Hannah McMullan
The Distinctive Games Award for Game Level Design
1st Prize
University of Huddersfield
Fever Dream Tangerine – Parasol Protocol
Calum Short, Joshua Sykes-Ellis, Ricco Vergara, Mudaber Ahmed, Maisy Adams, Hannah McMullan
2nd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Happy Hour – Pint Sized
Daniel Kerridge, Holly Buckley, Cameron Hunt, Alex Worswick, Eddie Robinson, Leo Woodley
3rd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Mana Studios – Hex & Havoc
Emily Downey, Allyson Frazier, Josh Blackley, David Pare, Greg Alderton, Toby Brookes
The Sumo Digital Award for Game Design
1st Prize
Manchester Metropolitan University
Rancher Studio – Chess Rancher
Kian Borg-Jackson, Imogen Sibley, Sadie Simpson, Jamie Tiplady
2nd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Fever Dream Tangerine – Parasol Protocol
Calum Short, Joshua Sykes-Ellis, Ricco Vergara, Mudaber Ahmed, Maisy Adams, Hannah McMullan
3rd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Happy Hour – Pint Sized
Daniel Kerridge, Holly Buckley, Cameron Hunt, Alex Worswick, Eddie Robinson, Leo Woodley
The PitStop Productions Award for Game Audio
1st Prize
University of Huddersfield
Fever Dream Tangerine – Parasol Protocol
Calum Short, Joshua Sykes-Ellis, Ricco Vergara, Mudaber Ahmed, Maisy Adams, Hannah McMullan
2nd Prize
Manchester Metropolitan University
Rancher Studio – Chess Rancher
Kian Borg-Jackson, Imogen Sibley, Sadie Simpson, Jamie Tiplady
3rd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Happy Hour – Pint Sized
Daniel Kerridge, Holly Buckley, Cameron Hunt, Alex Worswick, Eddie Robinson, Leo Woodley
The Red Kite Game Award for Game Technology
1st Prize
University of Leeds
UBQR Team – Axiom Swerve
Sahil Puri, Tejaswa Rizyal, Abhigyan Gandhi, Alexander Claridge
2nd Prize
University of Leeds
Wipeout – IDOL
Zachariah Lee, Thomas Chernaik, James Johnson, Ahmad Hussain
3rd Prize
Sheffield Hallam University
Trajectile Interactive – Racecar Crashers
Luke Jason Hibbert, Aliyaan Zulfiqar Bhatti, Gergo Janos Kocsis, Charlie James Edwards
The Revolution Software Award for Game Narrative Design
1st Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Seven Seats – Diesel Blood
Alex Brearey, Benjamin Cirulis, Harrison Biddick, Jak Hughes, Taylor McLennan, Kai Blair
2nd Prize
University Centre Leeds
Hannah Shaw – XVIII
3rd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Mana Studios – Hex & Havoc
Emily Downey, Allyson Frazier, Josh Blackley, David Pare, Greg Alderton, Toby Brookes
The Award for Best Team
1st Prize
University of Staffordshire
No Signal – Xeno Farm
Thomas Banks, Andrew Quartley, Natasha Taylor, Orion Biddick, Jaydan Knevett, Uday Pramod Aklade
2nd Prize
Manchester Metropolitan University
Rancher Studio – Chess Rancher
Kian Borg-Jackson, Imogen Sibley, Sadie Simpson, Jamie Tiplady
3rd Prize
Sheffield Hallam University
Trajectile Interactive – Racecar Crashers
Luke Jason Hibbert, Aliyaan Zulfiqar Bhatti, Gergo Janos Kocsis, Charlie James Edwards
Roger Bateman, director of the Sheffield Creative Industries Institute, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have hosted the Game Republic Student Showcase at Sheffield Hallam University this year. The UK is home to some of the most innovative and creative talent in game design and development, and this event is a brilliant opportunity to celebrate that.
“At Sheffield Hallam, we’re proud of our strong connections to the games industry, and we’re committed to nurturing the next generation of game creators through collaboration, creativity, and real-world engagement.”
In presenting the awards, Jamie Sefton added “I’d like to thank all of the students and course leaders from all the Educational Partners of Game Republic who have shown off some incredible work here today.
And a reminder that you can nominate your course leaders later this year for a Game Republic Award to be presented at GaMaYo in November.
I’d also like to thank the staff of Sheffield Hallam University – especially Paul Parry, Roger Bateman, Danielle Allen, Catie Varley, Emma & Joseph in PR, and the academic team including Luke Melville and Tom Garner to name a few – for putting on such a great Game Republic Student Showcase event today.
From our own Game Republic team I’d like to Michela for helping on the day and Dr Jackie Mulligan for coordinating everything and bringing the events together. “
Finally, thanks again to the Game Republic games company judges – Atomhawk, Red Kite Games, Rockstar Games, Distinctive Games, Revolution Software, PitStop Productions and Sumo Digital – and to our Official Partners Xsolla, Barclays Games & Creative and Red Kite Games.”
Today Sheffield Hallam University will be opening its doors again for the first ever Game Republic Careers Conference for students looking for support into their first job or setting up as freelancers and businesses.To find out more about Game Republic’s educational partners, visit this link which details the excellent establishments who are part of the largest games industry network in the North.
About Game Republic
Game Republic is the largest games industry body in the North of England with over 1300 developers, educational partners and industry suppliers. It is a key partner in The Great North and One Creative North initiative. The network runs 12 events a year for game developers including the annual Game Republic Student Showcase and works internationally on trade missions and at international events supporting games businesses across The North of England.
About Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University’s vision is to become the world’s leading applied university, transforming lives and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds.
With more than 28,000 students, it is one of the UK’s largest universities and a leading provider of health education and teacher training. Sheffield Hallam also educates more students from underrepresented backgrounds than any other UK university.
The application of knowledge is at the heart of everything the University does, from students’ learning and experience to business partnerships and innovative research addressing real world challenges.
If you like this post, please help us by sharing it!