A South African team has been awarded the coveted award during the global online semi-finals of Microsoft’s 2014 Imagine Cup competition.

According to Microsoft the team Super Sea Dragons, scooped the Skype Award and was awarded a $5,000 cash prize.

The team is made up of 4 students from the University of Pretoria all enrolled at the department of Information Science.

Microsoft stated that the team was awarded the prize for their project, Orbit.

Orbit is a 2D action-adventure planet platformer, wherein gameplay is focused on the exploration and navigation of small planets, collecting weapons and upgrading these to fight for one’s survival. Players assume the role of Atlas the astronaut, Earth’s last hope for finding a new habitat to survive in, reads the statement.

“Year after year the Imagine Cup has proven that our students have unimaginable creativity. We encourage these young people to consider a career as a software developer. If we are able to channel these ideas, we can do a lot to help South African youth with potential realise a career in coding to export intellectual property or become entrepreneurs in their own right,” said Clifford de Wit, developer and platform lead at Microsoft SA.

He added, “Last year’s local winners – Team SentiMeter – have gone on to form their own profitable and sustainable company, and now Super Sea Dragons have a chance of doing the same.”

Of the 171 entrants who competed in the semi-finals, 33 have progressed and will be battling it out for top honours at the worldwide Imagine Cup finals in Seattle later this year.