The Gamebridge Student Games Festival is a free, live-event happening on Saturday 15th June 2024 at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK. It has been designed to highlight the best work created by students/graduates from across the country, as well as supporting all attendees in their journey towards a career in the games industry through talks, recruitment booths, bookable 1-to-1s with industry, and other networking opportunities.
The heart of this event is the Gamebridge Showcase, a way to recognize and reward students who have worked hard to produce amazing work, that enriches our lives by challenging and entertaining us. Teams or individuals can enter, and winning submissions will receive cash prizes, with over £5000 of prize money up for grabs. This page has been setup as the submission system to request a place at the showcase.
Award Categories
Across the two main award categories, the industry judges are looking for outstanding team created games, as well as individual work that showcases excellence in the areas of art, design, and technical ability. Submitted work will automatically by entered into the relevant categories, that currently include:
- Team Awards - £1,000 (1st Place) £400 (Runner Up)
- Best Team Project
- Individual Excellence Awards - £500 (1st Place) £250 (Runner Up)
- Design Excellence
- Technical Excellence
- 2D Art Excellence
- 3D Character Excellence
- 3D Environment Excellence
Your Eligibility
To be eligible for the showcase you:
- Must fall into one of these categories:
- Currently attending a Further Education institution (i.e. College) in the United Kingdom
- Currently attending a Higher Education institution (i.e. University) in the United Kingdom
- Have attended a Further/Higher Education institution in the United Kingdom
- Must not be currently employed within the games industry
- Must be able to attend the Gamebridge event on 15th June 2024, specifically between 11am and 5pm
- For those that require it, a travel bursary can be applied for
Eligible Work
To be eligible for the showcase, all work:
- Must fall into one of these categories:
- A game / game prototype / technical demo
- Must be for either PC (Windows) / Mobile (Android) / VR (Quest)
- Must run locally, as unfortunately no internet access will be available for showcased work
- A piece of game art
- For 3D work must be either an environment (with fly through) or character (on turn table)
- For 2D work must be either concept art or series of game assets
- All must be original video game related art and not fan art
- A game / game prototype / technical demo
- Must be showcased:
- Within a self contained executable (i.e. build from a game engine) in the format:
- Windows (.exe)
- Android / Quest (.apk)
- Or for 2D art as an image file(s) in suitable lossless format such as png
- Within a self contained executable (i.e. build from a game engine) in the format:
- Must have been created either:
- By yourself
- Or if you are submitting a game or game prototype, by a team you are a member of
- Must have been created after July 1st 2022
- Must not have been submitted to Gamebridge in 2023
- Must not contain nudity, or hateful language / visuals. No submissions that are NSFW
- Must not have been sold as a commercial piece of work
- Must not be AI generated work
Showcase Places
The process for gaining a place at the showcase is as follows:
- On Saturday 1st June, 2024, once this itch.io jam is closed, a panel will start to review all work submitted. Work that meets the quality requirements of the event (as determined at the discretion of the panel) will be emailed soon after and offered a place at the showcase.
- For work that runs on mobile / VR we aim to provide appropriate devices, and our team will contact you closer to the time to discuss. For all other work Windows PCs will be provided and your submission will be preloaded onto it.
- To attend the showcase you will need to register for one of the free event tickets. These will be available soon and can be found through our website: www.gamebridge.uk. For team submissions, each member of the team attending will need to register for their own ticket.
- Those that do not receive a showcase place can still show their work to industry through 1-to-1s and other networking opportunities.
Judging & Prizes
- At the Gamebridge event on Saturday 15th June, 2024, industry judges will view the work that is being showcased and decide upon winners and runners up if applicable. With all awards being decided at the discretion of our industry judges.
- Winners will be announced, and prizes/trophies given, during our awards ceremony held at the end of the day (approx. 4pm).
- More details of the awards and prize sponsors will be available at www.gamebridge.uk over the coming weeks.
Submitting Work
- If you do not already have one, you will need a free itch.io account (https://itch.io/register).
- Then you will need a new itch.io project (https://itch.io/game/new) for each piece of work you wish to submit.
- The 'Title' of your work should be appropriate to the piece and not just something like 'gamebridge submission'.
- 'Pricing' must be set as $0 or free, otherwise the panel will not be able to access your work.
- 'Visibility & access' must be set as 'Public' for the same reason as above.
- To hide the work from others, select 'Configure settings' beside the 'Public' option and set page as 'Unlisted in search & browse'.
- Include an appropriate cover image.
- The 'Details' section is optional but is a nice place to give some details to the judges on your project and it's background. Importantly, if you are submitting a game / prototype this is the place to include additional instructions and solutions to puzzles.
- For the 'Uploads' section:
- For 2D Artwork you can ignore this section.
- For Android or Quest submissions we are looking for a .apk file.
- For all other submissions we are looking for a self contained executable (.exe) for Windows. For 3D Environments this should be a fly through and/or playable experience and for 3D Characters this should be the character on a turntable.
- For 2D Artwork you can ignore this section.
- For the 'Screenshots' section:
- For 3D Environments/Characters, as well as an in-engine build please include a series of high resolution renders of your work and UV Map/Texture Map/Wireframe renders as appropriate. Maximum of 20 images.
- For 2D artwork please include the final piece(s). Ideally also include sketches and other images that show your workflow. Maximum of 15 images.
- For all other submissions the screenshots are optional.
- For 3D Environments/Characters, as well as an in-engine build please include a series of high resolution renders of your work and UV Map/Texture Map/Wireframe renders as appropriate. Maximum of 20 images.
- When ready to submit your work, click on the Join Jam button (at the top of the page) to start your participation.
- Then press the Submit your project button to select the itch project you are submitting for the competition.
- For team projects, only one member of the team should join the jam / submit the project.
- All elements of the submission form must be completed.
- All submissions must be submitted before the end of the day on Friday 31st May, 2024.
Updates and Changes
Gamebridge representatives reserve the right to change, modify, and or update the rules, regulations, and guidelines connected to this competition at any time and without notification.
FAQ
Question: Where can I find information about the Gamebridge event itself?
Answer: Details of the event can be found on our website at www.gamebridge.uk.
Question: Can I submit more than 1 piece of work?
Answer: Yes. Please submit any work that you feel represents your best work.
Question: Can I showcase more than 1 piece of work?
Answer: Yes. If accepted you can showcase multiple individual pieces of work / team projects.
Question: Can my team showcase more than 1 piece of work?
Answer: Yes. If a team, or some of the same members, are chosen to showcase multiple pieces of work they can. But each chosen piece will need a different person attending to stand with their work.
Question: Can I make updates to my submission?
Answer: You can make updates to your work after it's been submitted, and as long as it's the same basic piece of work.
Question: What equipment will my work be showcased upon?
Answer: For work that runs on mobile / VR we aim to provide appropriate devices, and our team will contact you closer to the time to discuss. For all other work Windows PCs will be provided and your submission will be preloaded onto it.
Question: I have other questions, how can I contact you?
Answer: Please reach out using the link below.
Contact Us
If you have any questions please contact us through our eventbrite page: gamebridgeuk.eventbrite.com
Follow Us
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