We’re back!

Last year we launched the Grads In Games Awards, the first awards of its kind, designed to recognise the work of universities, academics, students and studios in improving and encouraging graduate employment in the games industry.

Every year we come into contact with thousands of people across this sector, and wanted to do something to help recognise those are taking an active role in helping to progress employment in the games industry. We wanted to provide a way to show that the efforts of so many people are valued, and that their work doesn’t go unnoticed. We had a truly fantastic response to the awards and an impressive lineup of nominees and winners from across games industry and academia. You can view all the nominees here and read about our winners here.

New awards + new sponsors!

Last year we presented 6 awards in total, recognising achievement across different areas of industry careers and employability.

For 2019 we’re excited to be adding three new categories to the mix based on feedback from 2018, and also announce dedicated category sponsors in d3t and Epic Games!

Two of the new categories, Core Tech Programmer and Technical Artist, have been created to highlight students who have already shown huge potential in an area of specialisation. Proficiency in these areas (and specialisations in general) are often developed by people later on their careers so we feel it’s important to recognise progress already being made at this level, both for the students and also the universities and courses that have supported them. We’re delighted to have d3t support the Core Tech Programmer award, as they’re a studio well-known to us for their support across programming and technical development with students.

Our third new category is the Industry Collaboration award, quite literally for creating better links between the games industry and education. This is an award shared between a studio and university for their work together, whether it’s in course oversight, collaborative projects, live briefs or any other form of direct interaction between studios and students. Through our university visits and careers work we know that there are several excellent possibilities for this award, and we’re excited to be able to bring attention to these hugely positive efforts.

We’re also very excited to have Epic Games supporting the Student Game Award. As one of the most recognisable names for both publishing and development in the industry, it’s wonderful to have their support in highlighting the excellent games projects produced by the next generation of the games industry!

Nominations are now open for 2019!

You can nominate & find out more about the new awards, as well as all the existing awards, over on our Grads In Games Awards page.

Shortlists will be announced in late March, with the awards being presented as part of our Search For A Star finals & conference day on the 17th April.