The Academy had 14 students up for 20 individual awards, including Scholarship Finalists and Internship Finalists, from the Schools of Animation & Visual Effects, Architecture, Illustration, Game Development, and Visual Development, according to the Rookies website. It also had a current Game Development student, LiGang Zheng, win the prestigious “Rookie of the Year” award in the Digital Illustration bracket, topping 25 category finalists from other schools around the world.