The competition final took place as part of the Festival of the Future on Munich’s Museum Island. Selected finalists presented their projects to a jury of experts and the festival audience. Jennifer Bell, a student of game production and management, presented FLOAT in a pitch and, with a compelling presentation, prevailed against strong competition. In doing so, she secured the team the sole grand prize – the New Realities Award 2026 – as well as prize money of 1,000 euros.
A game with social value
FLOAT was created in 2024 as part of a student project at HNU and explores innovative applications in the field of XR. Players move through a bright, lovingly designed VR world, guiding little ‘Pookies’ across floating islands. Controls are intuitive, using hand-tracking – with no controllers at all. During the game, movement data is recorded, which is used for the development of smart prostheses. In this way, every gesture becomes a valuable contribution to a more inclusive future. By winning this prestigious competition, the team has impressively demonstrated the innovative strength and creativity of HNU students.
“Winning the New Realities Award 2026 is an outstanding recognition of our team’s work. The fact that FLOAT has once again come out on top in such a high-calibre competitive field demonstrates the great potential of our idea to develop a game with social benefits,” said Jennifer Bell.
A multi-award-winning game
The six-strong Mouseworks team has already attracted attention in the games and XR industry with their game FLOAT. Winning the New Realities Award 2026 marks another milestone for the project and the students involved. FLOAT was also recently nominated for the GamesPreis26. Earlier this year, the team won the Digital Responsibility Award 2026 and, in 2025, the top prize at the German Multimedia Prize mb21, amongst other accolades.
