The first round of Search for a Star and Sumo Digital Rising Star is now over for both coders and artists taking part in the 2016 competition.

We’ve had record numbers of applications this year for both code and art, and we’re excited to see what talent this year’s competition will reveal. Last year we received a total of 364 applications for code, and we’re ecstatic to have smashed that record this year with 394 code applications received in total! Introduced for the first time this year, the art competitions have received a total of 222 applications and we’re thrilled to have gathered so much interest in its first year!

Universities with large numbers of applications included Abertay, Birmingham, Bournemouth, NHTV, Staffordshire and UCLAN, with many other universities just as eager to get involved.

The first round of the competition saw coders battling it out on a HackerRank test to secure a place in the second round. Artists on the other hand had to produce a portfolio piece in their chosen specialist area: Character, Environment, Animation or VFX.

Judging is now well underway for all four competitions to determine who will go through to the second round. Good luck everyone!