The winners of the Game Republic Student Showcase 2026 have been revealed in front of an audience of students, games industry guests and educators. Over 200 students from 16 Universities and colleges gathered at The University of Salford on Wednesday 17th June to compete in the Game Republic Student Showcase – the largest in the event’s history. The competition, that tours Universities and Colleges in the Game Republic network, is in its 18th year and sees leading game studios who have made some of the biggest global games titles judge the eight different awards.
Final year teams competed in eight categories: Game Art, Game Animation, Game Technology, Game Narrative Design, Game Level Design, Game Design, Game Audio and Best Team, which will be judged by leading games studios who have worked on an impressive range of global hits including Team17 (Worms, Overcooked), Pitstop Productions (Baldur’s Gate 3, Black Myth: Wukong), Atomhawk (Suicide Squad, Call of Duty), Double Eleven (Minecraft Dungeons, Red Dead Redemption 2), Red Kite Games (Hogwarts Legacy, Fall Guys), Revolution Software (Broken Sword, Beyond a Steel Sky) and Sumo Digital Sheffield (Sackboy – A Big Adventure, Fallout 4).
University of Salford student Amber Agar designed Spike, the seal mascot, for the event which was used on websites, posters, social media and on the limited-edition mouse mats produced for the event. Director of Art, Design and Creative Technology at the University of Salford, Paul Vivian, introduced the Prizegiving with a rousing speech celebrating the Game Republic Student Showcase and the talent demonstrated across the North.
The GR Student Showcase formed part of the Game Republic 2026 event programme supported by Strategic Partner Steel City Interactive and Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven.
Projects were presented by teams and individuals from 16 Universities and colleges in a fantastic array of 60 projects at the University of Salford’s MediaCity campus from students selected from University of Hull, Sheffield Hallam University, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Greater Manchester, University Campus Doncaster, University Centre Grimsby, University of Leeds, University Centre Leeds, Wakefield College, University of Lancashire, University of Staffordshire, University of Huddersfield, Leeds Beckett University, University of Salford, York St John University and Leeds City College.
The University of Greater Manchester team Collective Mess led the night, winning prizes in three of the five categories they entered. “It is insane, as we were in for five of them but we won in three, which was amazing,” the team said. “It feels great, as we originally submitted as a game jam, so it was amazing to be here.” They added: “Just getting to sit down and play a game we’ve spent so long making, it’s just been so great to see people enjoying it. It’s been a great experience.”
MD of Game Republic Jamie Sefton said “I think it was one of the best years we’ve ever had, as it was exciting and heartening to see so many women-led teams and lots of diversity in the mix. I will say congratulations to everyone in the Showcase – all the students and course tutors should be very proud.”
University of Leeds team Killswitch Engine/Hell Mist took first place in Game Technology with their zombie game, Killswitch, built on a custom engine. “We are very proud to get first in Game Technology,” the team said, adding they already have “lots of ideas on how to expand it and add more context to it.” They were generous about their fellow finalists too, saying of the other category winners: “There are many great games, and we played some of them, and they deserve it.”
University of Salford BA team TankMania placed third in Level Design. “We are honestly very honoured, picking us out of 60+ teams, it is very nice to be honoured, especially by studios we all know,” they said. “It is nice to put so much work in, and we didn’t expect to win, and we did, and it’s just great. We were told not to expect to win anything by our tutors, especially because we were not specialised. We are just very happy to be here.”
The winners of the Game Republic Student Showcase 2026
The Atomhawk Award for Game ArtÂ
1st Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Daruma Doll Shop by Harry Whitehead
2nd Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Idoling Around, by Collective Mess
Emily Seddon – Technical Designer, Narrative Designer, Will Kimber – Programmer, Graphic Designer, Jamie Hall – Artist, Voice of the Idol, Tommy Deluce – Level Designer
3rd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Bear with Me, by Fine Fish
Hedda Kalvo, Joseph Ballard, Anton Fleary, Michal Sukenik, Abby Arblaster, Niyaz Badar
The Double Eleven Award for Game Animation
1st Prize
University of Staffordshire
Squire For Hire, by Whatever Studios
Connor Chaplin , Connor Allery, Rafe Maidment, Mara White, Nathan Barlowe, Elli Alderson
2nd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Hose Bros, by Arson Around
Hari Tanmai Gandi, Luiz Mohd Alvin, Ferin Farhanj, Matty Wheatley, Sam Lench, Hal Rear
3rd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Supercharged, by LunaField Games
Christian Bellfield, Kacper Sekunda, Christopher Boyce, Keira Stocks, Louis Yip, Sam Bullock
The Team17 Award for Game Level Design
1st Prize
University of Lancashire
Rubicon Junction, by Luke Wynne
2nd Prize
Manchester Metropolitan University
SpellHead, by Andrew Winn
3rd Prize
University of Salford
TankMania, by Studio Chance
Amber Agar, Bailey Jones, Conall Murray, Eliza Valentine, Jack Miles, Marcus Cudjoe
The Sumo Digital Award for Game Design
1st Prize
York St John University
Budget Knight, by Kieran Gladwin
2nd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Hose Bros, by Arson Around
Hari Tanmai Gandi, Luiz Mohd Alvin, Ferin Farhanj, Matty Wheatley, Sam Lench, Hal Rear
3rd Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Idoling Around, Collective Mess
Emily Seddon – Technical Designer, Narrative Designer, Will Kimber – Programmer, Graphic Designer, Jamie Hall – Artist, Voice of the Idol, Tommy Deluce – Level Designer
The PitStop Productions Award for Game Audio
1st Prize
University of Hull
Social Norms, by Ragtag Games
Emily Steed, Ruby Weller, Hafsa Noor, Rio Pababi
2nd Prize
University of Huddersfield
Supercharged, by LunaField Games
Christian Bellfield, Kacper Sekunda, Christopher Boyce, Keira Stocks, Louis Yip, Sam Bullock
3rd Prize
University of Staffordshire
Mage Mail, by Different Page Games
Isabel Simons-Boswell, Morgan Harris, Katie Kendrick, Gabriela Harper, Harvey Powell, George Hewitt
The Red Kite Games Award for Game Technology
1st Prize
University of Leeds
Killswitch, by Killswitch Engine/HellMist
Pio Canas Toimil, Nansong Yue, Finley Byrne, Liam Swarbrick, Xiangyu Liu, Jaime Gine Paraiso
2nd Prize
Sheffield Hallam University
Order Independent Transparency, by Egor Smimov
3rd Prize
University of Hull
Real-time Ray Tracing, by Moon Pirates
Ali Moghimi, Jose Javier Serrano
The Revolution Software Award for Game Narrative Design
1st Prize
University of Stafforshire
Bear With Me, by Fine Fish
Hedda Kalvo, Joseph Ballard, Anton Fleary, Michal Sukenik, Abby Arblaster, Niyaz Badar
2nd Prize
Manchester Metropolitan University
Sunflower, by Jesús Gilberto Pineda Arteaga
3rd Prize
University of Hull
A Box of Stories, by Emberdragon
Emily Raine Robson & Lily Flaherty
The Award for Best Team
1st Prize
University of Huddersfield
Supercharged, by LunaField Games
Christian Bellfield, Kacper Sekunda, Christopher Boyce, Keira Stocks, Louis Yip, Sam Bullock
2nd Prize
University of Hull
Chrono Cleaners, by Hull Reference Exception
Danika Mason, Eli Hodges, James Simmons, Luke Barham
3rd Prize
University of Greater Manchester
Idoling Around, by Collective Mess
Emily Seddon – Technical Designer, Narrative Designer, Will Kimber – Programmer, Graphic Designer, Jamie Hall – Artist, Voice of the Idol, Tommy Deluce – Level Designer
And a reminder that you can nominate your course leaders later this year for a Game Republic Award to be presented at GaMaYo on November 26th in Wakefield! Huge thanks again to the University of Salford for putting on such a great Game Republic Student Showcase 2026. More photos from the event below.
