TU Dublin Student Game Developers take home coveted titles at Games Fleadh

TU Dublin won two categories at yesterday’s Games Fleadh – Ireland’s largest Digital Games Programming Festival, hosted at TUS, Thurles Campus. 

Celebrating 20 years of Games Fleadh, the Games Design & Development competition once again saw the brightest and best of the country’s Third-level student game developers come together to battle it out for 13 coveted titles.

Competitors, competing as teams, were asked to focus on the theme ‘Endless Runner’ and design action-packed games to test the mobility of the runner and skills of the player.

The event featured a number of guest speakers from Romero Games and Electronic Arts.

BAFTA award-winning Game Designer Brenda Romero led the way, speaking about the important role of women in technology and their many contributions in celebration of International Women’s Day.

First year programming students also participated in Robocode, providing an opportunity to demonstrate their programming abilities and advance their knowledge of GUI programming, API usage and Artificial Intelligence. The Robocode 2023 competition was won by Dundalk IT.

The TU Dublin 2023 winners included:

• Best in Game Mechanics
• Best in Use of AI Algorithms

Congratulating this year’s winners, Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS, said: “I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to this year’s Games Fleadh winners and to all who competed in the 20th edition of this annual competition. The gaming industry has changed significantly over the last two decades and is now one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy, providing new career opportunities for graduates. Huge opportunities await the young student developers of Ireland and we are proud to play a part in recognising and celebrating these student game developers.”

Dr Liam Noonan, Games Fleadh 2023 Organiser and Game Design & Development Degree Lecturer at TUS, said: “Once again, we saw a very high level of talent on display at this year’s Games Fleadh and I want to offer huge congratulations to the participants and winners who made life difficult for our judging panel of industry experts. I would like to thank our sponsors, Electronic Arts, and all other supporters who contribute massively to the success of Games Fleadh each year. We look forward to recognising and celebrating the student game developers of Ireland for many more years to come.”