Blizzard Entertainment’s 9th Annual World of Warcraft Student Art Contest is open for entries! Blizzard is calling on US and Canadian college and university students to submit original artwork or animations that would be a great fit for the World of Warcraft. The contest is open now until January 31, 2020 at 11:59pm in Environment Art, Character Art and FX Art.

Important Information

• Deadline: January 31, 2020 at 11:59pm
• Only current US and Canadian college and university students are eligible to win. Residents of North Dakota, Vermont, Connecticut, Maryland, and Quebec are not eligible to participate.

Environment Art Contest

Previous Winner

Using your creativity and ability to work within the World of Warcraft art style, create a small environment diorama that would fit well in the game world. Your quest: Concept, model, and texture an environment piece that you could imagine stumbling upon during your travels across Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend, Pandaria, the Broken Isles, or Argus.

Required elements:

• Trees, rocks, grass, and props, plus a small structure (such as a shrine).
• Your final piece should have a structure like the example provided.
• We’re looking for efficient models (e.g.: around 1,500 polys for a mature sized tree), so keep that in mind when creating your environment.
• The final submission should be a high-resolution JPEG file no larger than 5MB.

Submit your Environment Art entry

Character Art Contest

Previous Winner

Using your creativity and ability to work within the World of Warcraft art style, concept, model, and texture a non-player character (NPC) or creature that you could imagine roaming the plains of Durotar, exploring the depths of Deepholm, or just sitting in the Pig and Whistle Tavern knocking back a mug o’ Thistle Tea.

Required elements:

• The character or creature, along with some sort of clothing or armor.
• Feel free to go further by adding weapons or other accessories.
• The final piece should have a structure like the example provided.
• Stay within a budget of 6,000 polys with one 1024×1024 texture for the finished character.
• The final submission should be a high-resolution JPEG file no larger than 5MB.

Submit your Character Art entry

FX Contest

Previous winner

Using your creativity and ability to work within the World of Warcraft art style, create a player ability that could be added to the kit of one of our existing classes. You could conjure up anything from the power of the void for a massive flying ball of death, call upon the elements of nature to ensnare an entire mob, or wield the power of the Light to rip a giant fissure through the ground.

Required elements:

• Buildup of the ability, impact of the ability, and the aftermath.
• Feel free to go further by adding characters, creatures, props, or other 3d assets if needed.
• No frame length required.
• Submit a movie file (format can vary) as your final submission.

Submit your FX entry

Animation Contest

Previous winner

Using your creativity and ability to work within the World of Warcraft art style, create a unique combat animation from one of the three choices listed. Imagine entering a dungeon and battling against the Lich King and his undead army or traveling deep beneath the Firelands to take down Ragnaros.

Required elements:

Weapon (rig) of your choice, can be a character or creature.
Feel free to go further by adding weapons, additional characters/creatures, or other accessories.
Provide video(s) from 3 different angles: side view, back view (player view), 3 quarter view.
Must be animated at 30 fps and set to meters.
No frame length required.
No motion blur or camera movement.
Submit a movie file (format can vary) as your final submission.

Animation Choices: Please choose one

1. Two hit (combo) attack

• Must start and finish in the same pose.
• Model can end away from starting area if need be.

2. Weapon spell attack

• Must start and finish in the same pose.
• Should include a charge up/precast and release/spell cast.
• Model can end away from starting area if need be.

3. Summon and transition

• Example: Emerging from the ground or entering a room.
• Should transition into a passive or combat stance.
• Should have lots of personality.

Submit your Animation entry

PRIZES

Grand prize winners will be chosen by the World of Warcraft art team and receive the following epic prizes*:

• A tour of Blizzard Entertainment’s headquarters in Irvine, California;
• A 2-hour face to face mentorship session with a senior Blizzard artist;
• A one-year subscription to World of Warcraft;
• A Blizzard Entertainment notebook (featuring an original sketch by a Blizzard artist); and
• A Blizzard T-shirt.

*Blizzard reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value for any prize.