Student competitions can be an excellent way to showcase student projects and creativity – but their positive impact doesn’t need to end there. When done right, they can also enable meaningful networking with industry seniors, make the path into the industry a bit smoother, and encourage entrepreneurship.
In today’s competitive employment market, obtaining a relevant education may not be enough to secure your first job in a new industry. Personal connections with industry seniors are highly beneficial, and a polished portfolio with high-quality projects is often non-negotiable. Students may also need a fair bit of encouragement to keep trusting themselves, especially as it is inevitable that they won’t land most of the jobs they apply for. Those who are considering entrepreneurship need the connections, portfolio projects, and encouragement even more than the rest.
A well-designed student competition can have a role in delivering all of this. If a competition becomes a part of the fabric of the industry and experienced professionals take an interest and get involved, the participants get a chance at meaningful networking and visibility. Getting supportive feedback and coaching during the competition can help strengthen the confidence of all participants, not only the winners. And, needless to say, a product polished for a coveted competition is a great addition to any portfolio.
Shining the light on student games at Bit1
One successful example of a well-designed competition, and a space where student talent truly comes into the spotlight, is the Bit1 student game competition. In Bit1, student teams from different schools around the country compete for the title of the best student game of the year. Each team will first participate in a local preliminary, PreBit, in hopes of being chosen as a finalist. During PreBit, they present a gameplay video and pitch in front of a jury comprised of industry seniors, who will also play the games and briefly discuss them with the teams. The jury then chooses the finalists. Each finalist team is assigned mentor(s) to help them polish their pitch, video, and game for the Bit1 finals, where they present them again to a new jury of industry seniors. What could be more effective for building connections and gaining industry insight?
A shared project of the industry
When Bit1 was launched in 2018 as a part of the Chips for Game Skills project, one of the core goals was to intensify dialogue and co-operation among employers, educators, and students in the field of games. When the project ended, Bit1 kept going strong. It was organized by various organizations until 2025, when it returned to Metropolia, this time under the stewardship of yours truly.
True to its roots, Bit1 has never been the responsibility of just one organizer. Its preliminaries, PreBits, are run around the country by several volunteer organizations. Likewise, the jury and mentors volunteer their time in support of the student teams. As a cherry on the cake, the winning team receives a trophy at the Finnish Game Awards, the official yearly gala, where they are celebrated alongside the most coveted Finnish games of the year, by an audience of industry executives and VIPs. In the spirit of the original Chips for Game Skills project, Bit1 continues to be a genuine industry collaboration.
This collaborative model is what gives Bit1 its power. The students are welcomed and coached by seniors on a platform that has visibility across the industry. Their games, skills, and creativity are celebrated by people with decades of experience in the field. They network both with their peers from around the country and supportive professionals and are spurred forward in a friendly competition. As a result, in addition to a more polished game for their portfolio and some pitching experience, they have stronger connections and a better view of the industry. And, in the case of the winning team, even a little bit of fame and a cool title to boast about.
Where are the former participants now?
Comprehensive data about the career journeys of previous Bit1 participants is yet to be collected. Instead, I reached out to some of them personally and asked them to share their stories.
One of the games that participated in the very first Bit1 in 2018 was Trail of Relics by a fresh studio, LunarByte. The game did not end up winning or even making it to the top 3; nevertheless, its then-COO, Olli Raudus, says the competition encouraged them to keep going. And he himself has indeed endured in the volatile industry. When LunarByte ended operations after 4 years, Olli moved on to become the COO of another game startup, Skunkworks. Sadly, Skunkworks also shut down after about 3 years. But Olli is not one to give up; he went on to start his third studio, All Hats, which is now almost 3 years old and going strong.
In 2020, Improx Games won the Bit1 competition with their game The Last Cube. The full game was published two years later on Steam. One of the founders, Oskari Liukku, agrees that the competition gave them encouragement “and even a bit too much of an ego boost”. The team got their reality check soon enough and was able to keep going; today, all the founders have day jobs elsewhere in the industry, but Improx Games is still in operations, and currently mainly works on porting other people’s games for different platforms.
As a wholesome detail, for the first time ever, one of the jury members of the 2025 Helsinki PreBits was a previous Bit1 participant. The alumni are coming back as mentors. The circle is closing, cementing the competition even more firmly into the industry – and adding one more support pillar to the culture of giving back. Mindfully built structures like this can genuinely add value to any industry – what could you build into yours?
Author
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Suvi Kiviniemi
Specialist, Metropolia UASSuvi Kiviniemi is a game industry specialist with an entrepreneurial background, a DEIB advocate, and a firm believer in the power of communities.
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