Amber Agar, a a third year student studying games design and development at the University of Salford has won the Game Republic Student Showcase competition. Her winning design Spike is a spotted seal and will be used on posters, presentations, website stories, signage and a limited edition piece of merchandise for participants at the event on 17th June which will be hosted at the University of Salford and will be followed by the Game Republic Careers Conference on 18th June. The Game Republic Student Showcase is now in its 18th year as a touring competition that has grown over the years to become one of the largest such events in the UK. The event forms part of Game Republic’s events and activities for 2026 supported by Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven.
Jamie Sefton, Managing Director of Game Republic said “We were impressed by the selection of entries this year from first year, second year and third year students. We loved the seal though, and also Amber’s inspiration for the design. Since being informed that she has won, Amber has created more iterations that will be brilliant for us to incorporate into the event designs in June.”
Amber explained her inspiration
“For the mascot design of Spike the spotted seal I was inspired by and utilised the colours from the games republic logo, as well as this, I decided to go with a seal as a nod to the U.S. Navy’s marine mammals cognitive enrichment program in which they taught sea lions to play video games as part of research into keeping marine mammals happy and healthy, one of which was named Spike, the most avid gamer who would often perform happy dances after winning games 🙂 In the future, I would love to work as a concept artist or 2D artist, the whole idea generating and designing process is my favourite part of any project, seeing your visions develop and come together is the best feeling!”
Speaking on her win, Amber said “I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, it’s such an honour to have my design being used for the Game Republic Student Showcase mascot! I couldn’t believe it when I got the news and can’t put into words the joy and excitement I have been feeling throughout all of this!”
More of Amber’s work is available on her website-Â https://aagar17.wixsite.com/
Students studying game development, design and related subjects can join the Game Republic Student Club if their College or University is a Game Republic Educational Partner. If you are a student and your University or college is on the list, visit this link to join here!
To find out about events on the Great Northern Games Discord, GaMaYo and Game Republic events and webinars visit the events page.
If you are interested in becoming a Game Republic member, affiliate or educational partner you can apply to join Game Republic here.
If you are developing or supporting games in The North, you can join the Great Northern Games Discord here.
If you like this post, please help us by sharing it!