We are thrilled to share that our first five placements for this years Boost programme are officially live! In case you don’t know, Boost is our annual project to fund paid placements for fresh working-class talent from the IG50 awards. We pay candidates to work with studios for 6-13 weeks, offering them and employers flexibility & support throughout.

Last years pilot programme was a huge success, which you can read all about in our annual report here.

We have more studios and IG50 winners waiting to work together this year – and we need your support to make it happen! Please Share or Donate to our fundraiser to help us create more success stories: tiltify.com/intogames/boost-2026

Without further ado, let’s say hello to this years first Boost participants!

Elvinas Mikulin - 3D Environment Artist at MLC Studio

When Elvinas first won the IG50 2026, he wanted to have the change to create worlds that leave a lasting impression. Now he’s making that a reality with the team at MLC studio, working in their environment art team!

“Boost has granted me the privilege to expand my network and career. Through resources such as a meaningful industry work placement and personal 1:1 mentoring. I have developed a deeper understanding of my craft and knowledge on navigating the current games industry.” - Elvinas Mikulin

Halle Mae Mills - Narrative Games Designer at South Westerly Games

South Westerly Games are hard at work with their latest announced game, Nine Rounds Rapid. We’re thrilled to be supporting their work through bringing Halle to their team to help bring their intricate narrative world to life! This is the second year that South Westerly have participated in Boost, and they’ve seen the benefit that this programme bring to new developers and Indie studios like themselves.

And this year’s placement is already off at full speed. When asked about Halle, South Westerley had this to day: “She understands our vision for the game, has grabbed it and is going for it. Having someone with this much initiative is so helpful!”

Will Scoones - Sound Designer at Unifiq Games

Our third placement, Will, has been loving life at indie studio Unifiq, helping them with a range of audio requirements. A crucial part of this placement is ensuring that every person recieves a real living wage in exhange for their work - this has made a great difference to Will in upgrading his workspace.

“I have been able to get myself a proper workstation and upgraded my headphones, moving from the dining room table I was using for a long while ... I’ve also been able to cut down on the time I spend at my retail job, meaning more time to improve in my craft and do what I truly love as an audio designer.” - Will Scoones

Emma Weller - Technical Animator at Rekindled

Emma will soon be joining the team at Rekindled, giving her the chance to work with mentors and learn in an exciting professional enviroment after having a majority of her learning come from online.

“My animation journey has largely been through self-teaching and online courses, and I’m still continuing to learn and develop my skills. I’m incredibly excited to take that next step into a professional environment, contribute my character animation skills and gain hands-on experience creating, testing and iterating on character animation alongside the team at Rekindled 🔥 ✨” - Emma Weller

Julian Banks - Gameplay Programmer at ...

Last but certainly not least, Julian is thrilled to have an opportunity to work with a team he’s spent so long admiring. From playing their games, to now helping them make them, it’s a truly exciting time for Julian. Whilst we can’t quite yet announce where Julian is off to before his placement begins in October, we wanted to share the joy anyway!

We want to create even more of these opportunities for our IG50 winners. We have some incredible talent and companies lined up, but we need your help to take the next step. Every £2,500 we can raise promises another Boost placement - anything you can donate would be monumental to our cause.

Donate today: tiltify.com/intogames/boost-2026