News17 June 2026
Kicking Off with Industry Experts
The 3-day project kicked off with an incredible first day of learning and ideation, supported by a team of dedicated volunteers from King. The day began with a standout keynote speech from Sherif Elshazli, Tech lead at King Games, to inspire the cohort, followed by a fantastic workshop from Anna Furness, Head of Strategy & Operations, on how to collaborate and work effectively as a team.
From there, our students dove headfirst into the world of game development. They took part in specialised, hands-on workshops from volunteers from King, covering Ideation & Design, Web App Development, and Game Analytics, before breaking into teams to start brainstorming and building out their prototypes.
The Pitch
After days of hard work, coding, and problem-solving, it was time to show off the results. On the third day of the project, all 21 student teams presented their games to small judging panels made up of Ada staff and King volunteers.
Over the course of two hours, the students showcased their technical skills, creativity, and teamwork. From this impressive group, three final teams were chosen to take the stage and pitch in front of the entire Year 12 cohort.
The finalists presented to a fantastic main judging panel featuring Sarah Salimullah, our Principal at Ada, alongside senior leaders from King: Vikki Leach (Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Anna Furness (Head of Strategy & Operations), and Nazareth Tekeste (Senior People Director). The standard of the presentations was phenomenal, and the students did an incredible job answering questions and demonstrating their creations!
Celebrating the Winners
To celebrate their hard work, the two runner-up teams were awarded King goodie bags packed with cups, hats, sweets, and exclusive merchandise.
The winning team took home King hoodies and, most excitingly, secured a week-long work experience placement with King Games! This is an unbelievable opportunity for these students to take their digital skills to the next level in a real-world, global tech environment.
See all the videos and photos on our social media platforms and read more about our industry projects here.