With two weeks still to register, over 500 students from 83 universities across the UK and Europe have already signed up for the Search For A Star & Sumo Digital Rising Star challenges.

This year has seen a surge in entries from key games universities, with Sheffield Hallam University way out in front after our most recent Get In The Game Careers talk, plus good numbers from the University of Huddersfield too. As two of our local universities, it’s really great to see nearly 80 students getting involved at this level & we wish them all the best with their projects. Also no strangers to the SFAS challenges, we see Staffordshire University, Belgium’s Howest DAE and Dundee’s Abertay University round out the top 5.

It’s no coincidence that these universities have the highest entry numbers either, they’re also some of the top performing in previous years – each had at least one student make it all the way to the final round in the 2017 challenges.

We’ve also seen good numbers from other high-performing universities, including UCLan, who are historically one of the best in the Code challenges, as well as University of Hertfordshire, Teesside University, Newcastle University and De Montfort University.

Between them, they have a strong record of producing some of the most exemplary finalists and winners over the past few years.

Current Search For A Star registrations

University Top 5 leaderboard

Students who reached the finals in 2017 are now working at studios across the UK, including Sumo Digital, Playground Games, nDreams, d3t, Red Kite Games, Just Add Water, Hammerhead VR and more.

There’s still time for students to get registered and complete Stage 1, which is either a coding test for programmers or a portfolio piece submission for artists. Full details are over on our game dev challenges page or you can contact us directly at dan@gradsingames.com for information.