Microsoft's Imagine Cup finalists announced

Microsoft announced the 86 teams that will continue through to the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals today, with a total of 10 teams making it through in the game design category.

The Imagine Cup is an annual competition for students around the world to use Microsoft technologies to create apps, games and other software that can be used to benefit the world in some way. This year, the game development category was expanded so that teams can tackle any theme they want in their games.

The following teams make up the list of finalists in the game design category:

• Team UMA (Angola)
• Team Zeppelin Studio (Austria)
• WickedGames (Czech Republic)
• Team Banzai Lightning (France)
• Team Seven Worlds (France)
• Team Solite Studio (Indonesia)
• Team Psyduck (Puerto Rico)
• Team Quad Damage (Russia)
• Team Space Fighters (Turkey)
• Team Bluetooth (Vietnam)

The finalists will compete for a top prize of $50,000 in St. Petersburg, Russia from July 8-11 this year. Over the course of the competition, the teams will have to give presentations about their games, develop them to a point where judges can play them, accept feedback and iterate on their projects and give follow-up presentations. The process aims to encourage students to not only work together on project, but to adopt a spirit of entrepreneurship so they take responsibility for their creations.

Last year, teams from the U.S. and Thailand won the design competitions at the Imagine Cup.

To find out more about the Imagine Cup, visit its website.