Search for a Star announces finalists

Organisers behind the Search for a Star initiative have announced their finalists. The program’s 40 judges have whittled down their 814 entrants to just 10 programming students and 21 art students.

The students were thrown through two industry-set challenges, and the finalists will now move onto a final interview stage that will see them speaking directly with leading UK game development studios.

You can see the games and artwork created by finalists in round two at the links. 

During the finals day, finalists will "take part in an interview designed to mimic the standards of the games industry. Students will sit with a panel of five industry professionals and studio heads, who will assess the students and provide feedback based on their performance."

This process might sound intense but should show students have the skills to prosper in an increasingly competitive field.

The initiative was developed by Grads In Games and aims to shine a light onto talented students to those in the industry, in addition to reenforcing bonds between academia and employers, to create more pathways for students to get into games.

This year was the biggest Grads in Games event, with 30 studios involved in the event as judges, sponsors or prize-givers. 50 games were created and 60 pieces of art were made.