Gamescom Art Competition – The Runners-Up

As you may remember, a few weeks ago we put out a call for your game-inspired artwork, to act as a backdrop for our Gamescom panel event, which will see some of the brightest minds in game development chewing over the old ‘games as art’ debate at the Cologne expo next Tuesday evening.

You didn’t disappoint and we’ve had a healthy volley of mini-masterpieces submitted. The 10 best entries are currently in front our judges – who include Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, LittleBigPlanet co-creator Alex Evans and thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago – and will go on display in Germany next week before being mounted on canvas, signed and returned to their creators.

To whet your appetites though, I thought I’d offer a glimpse at a few of the great pieces that didn’t quite make the cut. To all the artists showcased below – great work, PlayStation salutes you. And if your effort isn’t here… well, keep your eyes on our live-stream next Tuesday night to see if you’re among the talented ten.

Mike Williams – “I have chosen to submit Akuma as he’s been my favourite character in gaming for a while. My dream has always been to get my artwork seen by game developers and one day work with a studio.”

Joaquín Baya Garcia – no description offered

Ishman Allen-Litchmore – “My entry is a sack boy from LittleBigPlanet holding a glowing PS Vita. I made this because it is the game I am most looking forward to getting on my Vita.”

Saku Hatakka – “The Assassin’s Creed series has always had a lot to draw inspiration from. Despite the series being more or less grounded in real historical periods and events, it always had a fantastical side to it as well. I tried to imagine what a fantasy assassin with magical abilities might look like. The piece is painted from scratch in Photoshop.”

Abdulrahman Al-harbi – “This is an abstract self portrait of myself which was inspired by Cole McGrath from inFamous 2, mostly the comic cut scenes. Kind of shows the beast in a way inspired by when Cole becomes the beast in the game.”

And while we’re on the subject of Gamescom, we’re still taking questions for our panellists. If you’ve got an art-related query to put to our esteemed guests please Tweet it using the #PSGC hashtag. We’ll be taking submissions up to and during the event.

Just as a reminder, Sony’s Gamescom conference begins at 19.00CET/18.00BST on Tuesday 14th August, followed by the panel from 20.45CET/19.45BST. Don’t miss it!