Gadget Blog

Make Something Unreal Live, the international student game-making competition organised by Gears of  War maker Epic Games, has been won by  Sweden’s Dead Shark Triplepunch.

The fantastically titled team from the  Blekinge Institute of Technology nabbed the  top prize of commercial Unreal Engine 3   and 4 development licenses for its unique  sports game Epigenesis (pictured above),  which is now set for a full release.

Based on the competition’s theme  of Mendelian genetics, the five-on-five,  multiplayer-only game is a mix of first-person shooting, 3D platforming and basketball that  has you marking your territory literally by  growing strategic defensive or offensive flora.

The live final, in which the Swedes saw off Staffordshire University’s Kairos Games, Bournemouth’s Static Games and  the University of Abertay’s Team Summit,  extended over the week of Gadget Show Live  at Birmingham’s NEC, with the teams taking  on feedback from the public and mentors  including Ninja Theory, Climax Studios,  Lucid Games and Splash Damage.

Games industry gurus such as Sensible  stalwart Jon Hare, Grand Theft Auto creator  Dave Jones and Sports Interactive’s Miles  Jacobson also aided the teams’ development.

The judging panel included Populous and  Theme Park creator Peter Molyneux, Epic Games’ Mike Gamble, The Wellcome Trust’s Iain Dodgeon, UKIE CEO Jo Twist, Nvidia’s Phil Wright and T3 deputy editor Matt Hill.