Record success for Sheridan students, alumni at Ubisoft Toronto student game development awards

Sheridan students and alumni combined to win 12 awards at this year’s Ubisoft Toronto student game development competitions, including six first-place finishes and a podium sweep in Ubisoft Toronto NEXT’s Level Design category.

Ubisoft Toronto NEXT

Game Level Design graduate certificate student Chris Russell Shantz's first-place finish in Level Design marked the seventh consecutive year a Sheridan entrant has claimed top prize in that category at the Ubisoft Toronto NEXT, with Bachelor of Game Design student Lucas Altamirano and graduate Tiago Massochin finishing second and third, respectively. Massochin also finished first in Game Design, the second time a Sheridan competitor has won the category since it was introduced last year.

Sheridan's other first-place finishers were graduate Yueran Zhou (Computer Animation ’22 and Visual Effects ’23) and students Jonathan Chen (Bachelor of Animation) and Qiushi Jin (Computer Animation).

More than 300 students and recent graduates from across Ontario competed in this year's Ubisoft Toronto NEXT event, which showcases the province's top game development students and helps kickstart their careers in the industry.

Develop at Ubisoft

Fourth-year Bachelor of Game Design student Kate Jarvis won the Game Design category of Develop at Ubisoft, a competition and mentorship program aimed at developing talent from underrepresented gender identities. This year's Develop at Ubisoft featured more than 230 students and recent graduates who identify as woman, transgender, non-binary and/or Two-Spirit.

"The unprecedented success our students and graduates enjoyed at this year's Ubisoft competitions is incredibly inspiring and a source of great pride. It speaks to the talent that our programs attract, the power of our collaborative learning environment that brings out their best, and the mentorship and support that students receive from our dedicated and expert faculty," says Dr. Theresa Scandiffio, Associate Dean of Animation and Game Design in Sheridan's Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design. "We are also grateful to companies like Ubisoft for providing immensely valuable opportunities for the next generation of game developers to showcase their talents and network with peers and future colleagues."

 

An image from Tiago Massochin's winning entry in the Game Design category. More details can be found on Massochin's website.
 

Following is a full list of Sheridan winners at this year’s Ubisoft Toronto game development competitions and a description of their categories:

Ubisoft Toronto Next

Game Design: Creating a new human enemy archetype for any Far Cry game, including defining design goals, producing a creative brief pitch document and constructing a detailed design document

1. Tiago Massochin (Bachelor of Game Design ’23)
2. Brandon-Lee Mohamed (Bachelor of Game Design ’25)

Level Design: Applying design sensibilities across a two-part challenge that represents a mission's production journey, from the earliest on-paper pitch to the first on-screen appearance

1. Chris Russell Shantz (Game Level Design ’23)
2. Lucas Altamirano (Bachelor of Game Design ’26)
3. Tiago Massochin (Bachelor of Game Design ’23)

3D Art: Creating a 3D video game environment diorama of a space explorer's living quarters, with a focus on visual storytelling, composition of quality assets and attention to detail

1. Yueran (Cassandra) Zhou (Computer Animation ’22, Visual Effects ’23)

Animation: Creating an animation with at least two characters, at least one of which was of biped form, to display an understanding of body mechanics and acting through body language

1. Jonathan Chen (Bachelor of Animation ‘24)

Concept Art: Flexing artistic and storytelling skills to breathe life into a chosen fairytale scene while being mindful of overall cohesiveness of characters or creatures, environment design and tone

1. Qiushi Jin (Computer Animation ’24)
2. Chia-En (June) Lee (Bachelor of Animation ’26)

Programming: Creating a game made entirely in C++ over the course of a weekend, focusing on the theme of firing projectiles

3. Roy Lu (Game Development – Advanced Programming ’24)

Technical Art: Creating a technical interpretation of a 3D art scene featuring a conflict between humans and aliens on Venus in 2077, with an emphasis on efficient and easily useable solutions for other team members

2. Bharath Raj (Digital Creature Animation ’24)

Develop at Ubisoft

Game Design: Applying design sensibilities across a multi-part Game Design challenge to create a High Valuable Character (HVC, a character players can use to assist their mission) for Watch Dogs Legion

1. Kate Jarvis (Bachelor of Game Design ’24)

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Sheridan’s Honours Bachelor of Game Design program was the first four-year game design degree in Canada, and award-winning alumni continue to make their mark across the industry. 2017 graduate Sam Elkana is the Art Director of Venba, which won the Grand Prize at this year’s Independent Games Festival Awards and received Best Debut and Social Impact Award accolades at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Please visit Sheridan’s website for more information about the following programs:

• Bachelor of Game Design
• Game Level Design
• Game Development – Advanced Programming
• Bachelor of Animation
• Computer Animation
• Digital Creature Animation
• Visual Effects