The contest
The Rookies encourages artists to submit their best projects to compete for the celebrated titles Rookie of the Year, Game of the Year, and Film of the Year. This contest is open to all amateur artists including students, recent graduates, and self-taught artists.The Rookie Awards is not only a great way for amateur artists to be recognized for their talent, but it gives them a chance to be seen by a top-level panel of judges within the 3D industry. The competition encourages students and devs to turn their passion for creative media into successful careers.
The results
This year, 3,537 projects were submitted from 89 countries in 510 schools in film, games, animation, immersive media, architectural visualization, motion graphics, product design, 3D motion graphics, and visual effects.Of the thousands of projects submitted into the contest, all three Game of the Year winners in Console & PC Games, Mobile Games, and Immersive Media, as well as the Rookie of the Year winner in Game Design & Development, were created in Unreal Engine. In the Young Guns specialty category for artists aged 13-17, the runner-up project was also created in Unreal.
We’d love to offer up a huge congratulations to all of the students that submitted their incredible projects this year. Check out all of this year’s UE4 winning projects below!
Game of the Year – Console & PC: Winner 2019
Spire | University of Hertfordshire | United Kingdom
Spire is a second-year university game project produced over the course of a semester at the University of Hertfordshire. The game, which is built entirely in Unreal Engine, follows the path of a knight on his journey through a cold and harsh forest.
Game of the Year – Console & PC: Runner-Up 2019
Project: Star Bounty | University of Hertfordshire | United Kingdom
Project: Star Bounty started as an idea set in a science fiction world and gradually progressed into concepts inspired by many games to showcase the potential of a new world, as well as paying homage to ones that already exist.
Game of the Year – Console & PC: Highly Commended 2019
Burning Daylight | The Animation Workshop | Denmark
Waking up naked in a slaughterhouse, you must escape and travel through a dystopian world to uncover the truth of your origins. Made by 12 students from The Animation Workshop, Burning Daylight is a sci-fi adventure game set in a dystopian future, featuring light puzzle elements and environmental storytelling.
Game of the Year – Console & PC: Highly Commended 2019
Rewired | Robodog Companions | United Kingdom
Rewired is a story about a robot that rebels against his creators. Join him on his quest for freedom. Inspired by Inside from Playdead, Rewired is an atmospheric side scroller with puzzle elements that feels more like an experience than a game. This student project was made in the span of 10 weeks.
Game of the Year – Mobile Games: Winner 2019
Xploro | UTS Animal Logic Academy | Australia
Designed for children aged 8-12, Xploro is an educational history game for iOS that brings together mobile AR technology and spatial multiplayer game-play mechanics in a fun and interesting way. Think Where's Waldo? meets Carmen Sandiego.
Game of the Year – Immersive Media Games: Winner 2019
Soundbender | UTS Animal Logic Academy | Australia
In a world of darkness where light is powered by sound, dive into a VR discovery metaphor that explores communication barriers via light and interactions with a surreal ecosystem.
Game of the Year – Immersive Media Games: Runner-Up 2019
The Order of Quadrivium - VR Escape Room | Escape Studios | United Kingdom
Benjamin H. Fox is dead, and the lock he designed just trapped you inside his workshop. Explore a mysterious Victorian observatory and search for the last pieces of a puzzle hidden in the environment. Accomplish his work and go on a journey that he could not make himself.
Game of the Year – Immersive Media Games: Highly Commended 2019
MindPalace | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Germany
MindPalace is a real-time VR Experience for Oculus and Vive.
Game of the Year – Immersive Media Games: People’s Choice 2019
ICHOR - VR Melee Wave Shooter | ArtFX | France
Ichor is a VR Game with an asymmetric multiplayer co-op feature where you have to defend an objective from human attacks.
Rookie of the Year – Game Design & Development: Winner 2019
Juras Rodionovas | Character Art - "Cyberpunk Witcher" | Futuregames | Sweden
Rookie of the Year – Game Design & Development: Highly Commended 2019
Mihai Muscan | WE_E: Fluorescence | Romania
Rookie of the Year – Game Design & Development: People’s Choice 2019
Keltic Vermeersch | The Environments of Keltic Vermeersch | Digital Arts and Entertainment | Belgium
Rookie of the Year – Immersive Media: Runner-Up 2019
Izel Moctezuma | Salamender | Ringling College of Art and Design | United States
Rookie of the Year – Immersive Media: Highly Commended
Fabrizio Bergamo | The Lost City | Escape Studios | United Kingdom
Speciality – Young Guns (Ages 13-17): Runner-Up
Daniel Song | City | IT Christian School | South Korea
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