Help reviewing my new application as former was rejected

[Carthy]

Hello Everyone, I needed help with my Application review as my former application was rejected. I would really appreciate your insight on this. I’m a game designer with 4 years of experience.

For my new application

I have a recommendation letter

1 Microsoft Xbox Director

2, Senior Engineer of NBC Universal that was a Director in the game house I worked at remotely in the US.

3. Founder of a game studio that required me to train their developers in recognition of my work.

For my MC

1. my role as a panelist talking on topic video game ecosystem with over 200 attendees and 1.9k live stream. With evidence of talk listing my name and reference letter.
2. Spotlight from the biggest games industry event organization in Africa spotlighting me and the studio i co-founded redefining game development with invitation as a vip delegate representing my country in the event. With evidence of reference letter from organizers.
3. Invitation to give an international talk representing my country as a speaker. The talk was on game development and my journey. With over 1000+ attendees with top industry sponsors. With evidence I added screen shot showing me as a speaker and my talk topic. With reference letter from the organizers.
4. Company registration documents showing my equity share in the studio I co founded with grant money invoice for my work winning an international award being the first in my country.
5. My work on a gamified loyalty application for international company that recruited me as evidence led by my second recommendation letter.

For OC2

1. I added my volunteer unpaid role as a mentor for software development in the United Nations SDGS program , focused on the goal 4 and 9 of quality education and driving innovation. In this I thought software development and game design to young innovators. With evidence of impact of my work done as showcased from young mentees design animation showcasing the UN 17 SDG goal, review from one of the best students age 14 with web site she created and animation. Referencing me as her mentor and what she learnt in the SDG program. Further reference of the former director of United Nations SDGS program X chapter.
2. Unpaid Mentoring role outside my primary work at the biggest Female web3 organization in Africa. Teaching game development and holding multiple session with topics Integrating blockchain in Gaming, how female developers can advance the sector with blockchain technology. With evidence of over 40 Webgl games deployed by female mentees, the community having over 15k members and reviews from mentees listed on the website mentioning my name. With reference letter from the founder.

OC3

First evidence

1. Evidence of my work in the studio I cofounded winning best game 2022 to 2024.
2. My game showcased in the biggest game media IGN platform with reach of 18.9 million subscribers.
3. My game exclusive listing on IGN page with evidence of 1 million daily visitors on their website.
4. Evidence of exclusive game trailer from game media with 1 million subscribers
5. My game winning a grant award making my studio the first in my country winning such award.
6. My game listed in another gaming media showcase with over 5 million subscribers.
7. Evidence of game being approved on Microsoft Xbox plat with reference from the director referencing my work as one of the recommendation letters.
8. Steam page and. Epically games page of my game with live demo and screenshot of reviews.

Second Oc3 evidence.

1. My work as a senior Unity developer on a game that has gotten 100,000 downloads in 12 months.
2. Architectural documentation of the game.
3. Public variable metrics on play store with Company approved screenshot showing actual amount.
4. The game nomination of best game in 2024 in two platform with over 224k views.

I also added a cover letter on how I have met their criteria.

I need help reviewing this application cause this is my third time applying and I have avoided the use of excessive screenshots to make the documents easily readable by the accessor.

Former proforma

The candidate has applied for Exceptional Promise (EP) based upon meeting mandatory Global Talent

Visa Criteria and Optional Criteria 2 (OC2) and OC3, and currently operates as game developer.

All evidence contained within this application has been considered, and external links (of which there

are many) have been reviewed in line with the Tech Nation (TN) guidelines in that only content supplied

in the main body of the application has been considered. The candidate has compressed many pages

onto a single A4 piece of evidence to meet the TN guidelines of 3 pages per piece of evidence; this has

made the assessment more challenging. Nonetheless, every effort has been made to review such

content.

Meeting Mandatory Criteria (MC) requires the candidate to demonstrate they are a recognised leader

with extraordinary ability within a technology field and demonstrate “sustained ‘’ national or international

recognition. The candidate has provided evidence of speaking at an esports event (X 2023), Youtube views are noted (1k+). However the engaged live audience was modest

(100). Concerning Africa Games week, the additional LOR is an “invitation”, and so fails to validate

impact or reach. Furthermore, email evidence is not considered admissible by TN. The GIC event and

associated additional LOR is once again in the form of an invitation which does not confirm contribution,

impact or reach. All things considered, this evidence is encouraging for an early-career game developer

but fails to meet the standard expected of a candidate seeking to demonstrate EP.

Tech Nation requires 3 mandatory letters of recommendation (LOR) from persons who are

acknowledged experts in the field of digital technology and who have a detailed knowledge of the

applicant’s work for a period of 12 months or more. The applicant’s letters do not meet this criteria for

several reasons: i. on the whole the reference letters are light on detail (e.g LOR2 - analysing user

requirements), or where detail is provided it is comparable to other early-career game developers, and

ii. not all of the LOR can demonstrate that they have 12 months of more direct working experience with

the candidate (e.g. LOR1 – is the candidates former lecturer which may pre-date the age limit for

evidence and LOR3 – invited candidate to be a panellist on X (2023), the

nature of any sustained collaboration is unknown. All LOR talk warmly of the candidate and are more

reflective of character references rather than reflective of a candidate seeking to evidence national or

international recognition.

The candidate has chosen not to provide evidence of earnings or company accounts, they do claim to

be the co-founder of the game development studio and own 40% of the equity in that business, sadly no

supporting evidence could be found in support of this claim. All things considered, MC cannot be

awarded.

OC2 - requires recognition for work outside of the applicant’s immediate occupation that contributed to

the advancement of the sector. Evidence includes an overview of x (technology training /

employability preparation) and a public presentation at Playtopia. Both are noted but are not considered

field advancing. In the case of the former the “thank you” email (not considered admissible by TN) does

not validate impact or reach. OC2 is not awarded.

OC3 - requires that the applicant should have made significant technical, commercial, or entrepreneurial

contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led

digital technology company. The candidate has not provided a sufficiently compelling body of evidence

to meet the OC3 criteria. Concerning “X” game evidence, this lacks 3rd party validation of

impact or reach, it is noted that this game is at pre-release status on “Steam”. The approval for release

of this game on the Xbox platform is also noted, as are the extracts from the Microsoft TLA, however,

this evidence would have benefited from validation of early marke traction and the TLA commercial

terms. The additional LOR from the Director of the Microsoft Xbox program Acceleration is duly noted and

respected especially the acknowledgement that the candidate is delivering game development

innovation with “resource constraints”, however alone this evidence is not sufficient to meet OC3.

Technical contributions whilst working for x Studio (X) are also noted,

but are considered to be in line with an early-career developer and the associated KPIs/nominations/

claimed impact (e.g. feedback on Playstore) cannot be solely attributed to the candidate. Taking all

things into consideration, OC3 cannot be awarded.

[Carthy]

@pahuja @Adeelawan12 @Francisca_Chiedu @alexnk

[Adeelawan12]

Your set of evidences are impressive @Carthy and you are almost there to get GTV, Just wanna add few things that i think would make an impact otherwise your application is really as per the standards of Tech nation.

Mandatory Criteria

1. Recommendation Letters (LORs):

Recommendation Letters are absolutely strong

2. Public Speaking and Recognition:

Your participation as a panelist and speaker at international events is valuable, but for a stronger case, I recommend providing more detailed evidence of your impact during these events. For example, include engagement statistics like how many people interacted with your talk or any follow-up actions resulting from your talks (e.g., new collaborations, partnerships, or recognition in the industry).

Optional Criteria 2

1. Mentoring Roles:

Your mentoring roles, particularly with the United Nations SDGs program and the Web3 organization, are impressive. However, it would be beneficial to provide evidence of the long-term impact of your mentoring. For instance, include examples of mentee success stories, where your mentorship led to tangible results, such as mentee projects that had a positive impact on the industry or career progression in game development.

Optional Criteria 3:

1. Game Studio Success:

The award for Best Game 2022-2024 is impressive. However, make sure to include further proof of your game’s commercial success. For instance, provide sales figures, user engagement statistics, or platform reviews.

Also what i did was i had additional references letter or appreciation letters that i attached with my eachevidence. I hope it helps.

[Carthy]

Hello Adeelawan thank you for your quick response and your key insight.

For my panelist I had four questions asked by the audience in which I answered in the video evidence. I also added a reference from the founder

For my talk I can add a linkedin post of an audience stating me and my talk on how I’m my story inspired him on how he can innovate with just a potatoe pc. And also i can add a reference from a recording studios that reached out for a partnership after hearing my talk.

For my mentorship role at UN SDGS program I can add YouTube link to my mentees YouTube in which she gives back to the community with her YouTube tutorials on game and animation development with programming tutorials included with over 16 videos and she is 15 now . I also included her mentions my name on her site as her mentor in the program.

For the web3 mentorship I added 4 video success story developing games with internships in studios from mentees written testimonials with a link to their game project in the organizations page.

For my OC3 I added video evidence of a YouTube platforms showing my game with over 25 million subscribers combined. Plus approval document screen from Microsoft.

I wanted to ask can I add sensitive agreement to a google drive as it is over 18 pages including the TLA agreement.
And can I add wishlist screenshots data of over 67,000 individual wishlists from my dashboard. Although it’s not verifiable because it’s from my admin dashboard.

And also how can I fix my other oc3 at my other company so the claims of impact of my work on the game can be directed to me

[pahuja]

Hi @Carthy

Can you also share the first two outlines and what exactly are you changing basis the TN feedback that you thought was accurate? It will help understand and share better.

As of this outline:

MC1: was this a leading industry event? Please also incorporate scale of the event.
MC2: include impact to the sector
MC4: was the award to you or the company?
MC5: include impact to the sector beyond contribution to the company

In OC2, it’s important to demonstrate impact of mentorship again so please use mentee testimonials, success stories.

In OC3, you should also add some quantified impact in terms of metrics (beyond just awards and rceognition) for the games you are showcasing. How many downloads, playtime, any user ratings, sales/revenue, partnerships, etc. it’s important to show impact in terms of metrics in this criteria.

[Carthy]

Hello pahuja, thank you for your response.

For my new application I’m added reference letter backing all my evidence and also I moved my talk and organization growth to MC then I added two new evidence in my oc2. For my OC3 I made the early market traction visible by avoiding the use of screen shots of each YouTube pages. I also added a text and validation link. Then as they requested that the TLA terms would have benefited the evidence I added a google drive link to the 18 pages of the agreement.

For the other OC3 I restructured the evidence to makes sure it highlight my impact and visible metrics still avoiding the use of screenshots limiting it to 2 per page and got a better reference letter.

For my three recommendations I added the Microsoft director letter as part of the letter instead of being in my MC, then i requested for a well written letter from one company I worked with and also another where I was recognized for my work in oc3. And was asked to train their developers

The first mc is the Panelist section which was a leading event in the games industry, the event has given out over $65000 in prize pool in the past 3 years. And it attracted international bodies from the French embassy and other top industry leader. For metrics it had a full house of 180 people and 1.9k live stream. I added a reference letter from the founder to the document.

For the second event MC2 it was the largest gathering of game industry leaders and developers from all over the world in held in Cape Town which was outside my home country. It had over 4000+ attendees present. I was spotlighted in thier linkedin post for creative leadership and driving innovation and excellence. With my picture and name present. It also highlighted my work and an overview of it. I was invited as a VIP delegate as a representive from my country This I also added a reference from the founder of the organization.

For the third evidence I added another high profile event in which I gave a 30minute talk on one of the biggest stage in South Africa. The event had over 1000+ attendees in the cathedral and I added evidence of my talk and also video footage of my talk. Accompanied by attendees feedbacks from the talk. The same evidence i also added evidence as a speaker at another international event but i attended virtually, it was hosted virtually it had 1200 verifiable attendees, and i added website listing of my talk and also screenshot of the talk and screen shot of attendees congratulating me and my co founder as our studio won the $5000 grant award. In this evidence I added references from the first high profile organization founder validating my talk and claims

For my four evidence I added equity share in the company and invoice of the $5000 grant paid and it was to the studio.

For my fifth Mc I added significant contribution outside my day to day work in the growth of the sector in a non-profit game organization. I added my role as a senior mentor and screen shots of me leading cohorts with mentees I also added evidence of how the initiative got a $200,000 workforce grant. I later added further evidence of my organizational role as a program manager organizing events and Gamathon conventions. This I added a reference from the founder.

For my OC2 I talk about me leading the software development classes in the United Nations SDGS program with evidence of projects done by students showcasing the 17 SDG goals with an animation. I also added Succes story from my youngest mentee which was 12 at the time I taught her and her track record give back knowledge through her YouTube tutorials on game development and animation and a website she built by her self stating my name as her mentor. To back the I added a reference letter from the former director of the United Nations SDG program in my state.

For the other OC2 mentorship role Wer i taught game development. Is it ok if I added video evidence of their success story in a google drive. I also have evidence of the games they created in the organization website with a view written testimonies that have my name.

For my first OC3 Wer I added reach of the game with over 25m subscriber. The game is a demo I only have wishlist data of 57,000 users but this is not public then the Microsoft Xbox agreement everything stating me as primary signatory and the game winning the $5000 grant.

For my second oc3 I talked about my work on the game as a senior developer I added company approved metrics of the game with over 100k downloads now. But on Google in shows 50k + and Apple Store doesn’t show metrics. Is that ok? I also added a reference from the founder

[pahuja]

Google drive links are not acceptable by TN. Please don’t add it, instead just add screenshot of relevant pages of the doc

If one of the products is not even live in OC3, you won’t have any metric impact to show. Won’t be a strong evidence

[Akash_Joshi]

Your application has improved with better organization and stronger reference letters. For your OC3 game contributions, try to get verifiable download numbers from third-party platforms or independent analytics. Instead of using internal dashboard screenshots for wishlist data, include platform-generated reports or partner validation. Make sure your recommendation letters clearly state how long and in what capacity you’ve worked with the referees to meet the 12-month requirement.

Your mentorship evidence is strong, with examples like student projects and success stories. Use direct links to published student work rather than drive folders when possible. For virtual events, highlight any post-event coverage or published session recordings to show reach beyond just attendance numbers.

The Microsoft Xbox partnership and grant award are strong validations of your technical contributions. Balance these with evidence of market reception, even if it’s preliminary. For early-stage projects, focus on innovation and unique approaches rather than just traction metrics.

Make sure to clearly separate your personal achievements from team accomplishments in your OC3 evidence. Recommendation letters should specifically credit you for project outcomes. Consider focusing your application on your most impactful roles, whether as a founder or senior developer, to ensure a consistent narrative across all documents.

[Carthy]

Thank you very much @pahuja and @Akash_Joshi for your response. I’ll avoid the use of google drive and I’ll add only links to validate mentees project which are playable from the organization website and video evidence of their success stories stating my name as their mentor.

For the OC 3 the first one that was approved by Microsoft is a 1 hour demo of the game but I have gotten reviews from players and it had won best game for three consecutive years with media coverage from platforms with over 25 million subscribers with one grant industry award. Is there a way I can structure this to be very presentable. Can I merge two pages of the TLA aggrement in one page showing the commencement date and key terms of agreement?

For my other OC3 I’ll rework on it to better.

I had one question in one MC document.
Is it wise to put company incorporation and documentation stating my equity share and invoice of the grant paid as one evidence. Noting I still have 4 other mc documents.

[Carthy]

I also wanted to ask if the United Nations SDGS program a good mentoring evidence as it was unpaid and was aimed at goal 4 and 9 which is quality education and innovation. I have evidence a mentee success stating me as her mentor on the website she created in the program and video evidence of her work in the program with her continuous impact through her YouTube channel we’re she now teaches game development and animation for kids for 3 years now. Note she is just 14. Backed by the reference of the former United Nations SDG director a university.

[Akash_Joshi]

I’m not sure if company incorporation fits in MC criteria. Isn’t it more OC1?

[Carthy]

Because they stated in the former proforma that I failed to provide evidence of equity in the company

Stating this The candidate has chosen not to provide evidence of earnings or company accounts, they do claim to
be the co-founder of the game development studio and own 40% of the equity in that business, sadly no
supporting evidence could be found in support of this claim. All things considered, MC cannot be
awarded.