As if there weren’t enough incentives to participate in our gamedev challenges, Search for A Star and Sumo Digital Rising Star, we’re always looking to improve and grow the initiative.  The team put on our thinking caps and have come up with a brand-new award system to give a bit of extra recognition to those who do well across the challenges.

In total there are 3 tiers of snazzy badges up for grabs in each category that you can post on social media or on your CV/portfolio to let everyone know you’re the crème da la crème, one of the elites, an A-lister.

We want to recognise all of you smarty-pants at each stage of the challenge, whether you’re fluent in C++ and aced the Hackerrank test, submitted a 3d art portfolio piece that shows real potential, or showed an excellent set of skills across your Stage 2 project – the badges will reflect that. “Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it”  For many the challenges are hard work and probably out of your normal comfort zone, so earning one of the badges is a real achievement.

If you’ve attended any of our Get in the Game career talks, you’ll know that studios want that little bit extra. Our badges will create an instantly recognisable symbol meaning you tick all those boxes. Not only did you participate, in doing so you demonstrated that you developed a games project to an industry set brief to a high standard – and did it really well.

Each badge is bright (just like all you devs), best suited to stand out and even jazz up that black and white CV!

With Search For A Star already frequently mentioned as a factor in graduate hiring processes, we hope that this will also make it easier for studios to look for when hiring graduates!

So, what are the new Search For A Star awards?

One to Watch

This badge is literally what it says on the tin; we think you’re one to watch for the future, not just for Search for A Star. You’ve produced excellent work & we’ll be looking out for great things from you in the future.

Finalist

To receive this badge – as I’m sure you’ll have figured out – you’ve made it to the final (wooooo go you!) Whatever happens in the finals, you have done a great job and that deserves to be known. This badge recognises that you’re one of the best students in your discipline!

Winner 🎉

Winner winner chicken dinner! Out of the hundreds of students taking part this year, you made it through and have come out on top! It truly is a ‘badge of honour’ that you should show off proudly.

Assessors

Of course, we don’t leave out the assessors and judges! We’ll be supplying them with a nifty badge, as all our industry professionals marking your work are super proud to be helping the next generation of gamedevs. This may even provide a sneak insight into who could be seeing your work.

This year’s Search For A Star Finalists and Ones To Watch have already been notified, and we look forward to seeing the new badges popping up!