Sheridan students honoured in multiple categories at Ubisoft Toronto NEXT Challenge

Sheridan students had a strong showing at the 9th annual Ubisoft Toronto’s NEXT competition. 

Held on May 12, six students from Sheridan’s Bachelor of Animation, Bachelor of Game Design, Digital Creature Animation Certificate and Game Level Design Certificate programs were honoured in multiple categories in the NEXT Challenge – an annual competition designed to showcase the talent of game development and visual arts students across Ontario and kickstart their careers in the industry.  

"Through industry experiences such as the Ubisoft NEXT competition, our students establish themselves as professionals in the industry while showcasing their skills,” says Theresa Scandiffio, Associate Dean, Faculty of Animation, Arts & Game Design. "We encourage our students to take any project – whether it be a capstone milestone or a competition challenge – as seriously as if it were assigned to them by an employer. I am so proud of everything our students and their amazing faculty have accomplished this year, and how they’ve represented Sheridan.” 

For the sixth consecutive year, Sheridan students swept the Level Design category, which required them to apply their design sensibilities across a two-part challenge. Game Level Design post-graduate certificate student Mauricio Castro took third place, while Aaron Munavish-Hogarth (Bachelor of Game Design ‘22) took second. Game Level Design student Camila Kukulski won first place, with judges saying her work showcased great technical expertise. 

Two Sheridan students won in the Animation category, which challenged participants to create an animation that displayed either one character bumping into another, or two characters bumping into each other. Ning-Yu Chu, who is studying in our Digital Creature Animation graduate certificate (‘22), took third place, while Yuxing Wang (Bachelor of Animation ‘22) won top prize. 

For the Concept Art category, students were asked to create a dark and gritty crime scene set in an urban fantasy landscape. Dawn Niu (Bachelor of Animation ‘21) won second place. 

Historically, Sheridan students have performed admirably at NEXT, earning top honours across multiple categories. You can watch the awards presentation of this year’s Ubisoft winners on YouTube.