ZTGK 2026 – Success for Students in the XR_Games Specialization at PJAIT

On June 25 and 26, students from both game development sections of the XRC Students’ & Alumni Club, operating at the XR Center PJAIT Research Center (advisor: Prof. Wiesław Kopeć), took part in the finals of the nationwide Team Computer Game Development Competition (ZTGK), organized by the Lodz University of Technology. Our students represented both game development sections of our club: XR_Games (advisor: Barbara Karpowicz), which brings together students in the XRG specialization at the Faculty of Computer Science, andGameLab (leader: Igor Sienkiewicz, advisor: Oleksandr Zimenko), which brings together a broad group of students from various faculties, including those applying for the specialization.

ZTGK is the largest and oldest engineering and technology industry event for students, aimed at future software engineers and content developers in the field of game development and immersive systems, including virtual and augmented reality (VR/XR). For nearly 20 years, it has been organized by the Institute of Computer Science at the Faculty of Technical Physics, Computer Science, and Applied Mathematics (FTIMS) of the Lodz University of Technology.

This year’s 18th edition of the event once again brought together representatives from leading companies in the gaming and interactive industries, includingCD PROJEKT RED, Elsewhere Entertainment, 11 bit studios, AMD, Bloober Team, Activision, andTechland, under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Minister of Digital Affairs, the Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship, and the Mayor of Łódź.

Both of our students' teams that entered the competition have qualified for this year's ZTGK finals:

• Team VØS (Dawid Juszyński, Olaf Mickiewicz, Jędrzej Nowakowski, Aleksy Winiarczuk),
• Team Symbiosis (Wiktor Drozd, Elżbieta Jaskółowska, Łukasz Kępka, Igor Sienkiewicz, Joanna Sobieraj).

In addition, Team VØS received a special award for Best Unreal Engine Project. Along with the award and a trophy, the students were assured of support for the project’s development from EPIC GAMES, the creator of Unreal Engine.

In addition, in the individual Animation category under the Game Graphics Concept track, the project by Maciej Polubiec, a member of GameLab, who will begin working on his thesis in October as part of the XR_Games specialization at the Faculty of Computer Science, led by the XR Department in collaboration withthe XR Center PJAIT.

Participating in the event was an excellent opportunity for our students to present their projects to experts in the game development industry, network with industry representatives, and gain valuable experience presenting projects on a national stage, while also demonstrating our university’s potential in the market for modern education tailored to the industry’s needs. It is worth noting here that graduates of our specialization find employment not only in the gaming industry—including at leading companies such as CD PROJEKT—but also in the broader IT sector, including among market leaders such as Google and Samsung. Many of them, as members of the XRC Students’ & Alumni Club , actively support the education of younger students not only during XR_Games specialization classes, but also through numerous activities that foster the growth of our student community, such as regular Game Jam events and the XR_Games Showcase, offering advice and support to young professionals entering the job market.