We’re excited to once again hold a costume design contest that will reward our amazingly talented Blade & Soul community artists, and see one lucky winner’s costume become an actual in-game costume. Last year the incredible Regium Corvus by Esyllincott and Night Luna by EdoSky won top honors, but it was the adorable Bamboo Costume from JG that ended up stealing a bit of the spotlight.

This year we’re changing up how we’re doing things just a bit, so be sure to read the rules carefully. We’re extremely excited to see this year’s entries, and wish everyone the best of luck!

See the full terms and conditions of the Costume Design Contest.

Design

The design submission must contain a front and back view of the costume, and one of the following race/gender model options must be used:

One male and one female model of the same race (e.g. male Jin and female Jin)—the Yun can’t be used as a qualifying race for this option.

One gender-specific model shown for each race (e.g. a male Lyn, female Gon, female Jin, and Yun are shown).

All races and genders represented.

Preference in judging will be given to costumes that share the same design concept but differ in appearance between genders and/or races (i.e. each gender/race costumes aren’t identical). You can design optional Head & Face accessories to accompany your costume, but they may not be present or differ in appearance in the final in-game design. Any design notes and inspirations are optional, but we love to see the thought process behind the design.

Your artwork can be hand drawn or digital. We’ve even provided a nifty template for you to use if you’d like—and use of it won’t impact judging because we’re choosing based on design ideas and not art quality. However, it must be your own original work; any designs that violate copyright or someone else’s intellectual property will be disqualified.

Prizes

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive:

Their design made into an in-game costume with a personalized tooltip and signature.

Their costume once development has finished.

$100 USD worth of Hongmoon Coin (8000 Hongmoon Coin)

Bamboo Costume and Bamboo Familiar set

Ten (10) Finalists will receive:

$50 USD worth of Hongmoon Coin (4000 Hongmoon Coin)

Bamboo Costume and Bamboo Familiar set

Judging

The Blade & Soul team will select the Grand Prize Winner and Finalists, and they’ll be announced on August 5.

Judging will be focused on creativity and coherence of design, as well as it fitting the theme and style of the Blade & Soul aesthetic. Judging priority will also be given to costumes that share the same design concept, but differ in appearance between genders and/or races (i.e. each gender/race costumes aren’t identical).

Submissions

All entries are to be submitted by July 24 at 6:00am PDT, and should include the following:

Real name

Chosen display name

Region (NA or EU)

NC Account Email (or email that will be used to create a Blade & Soul account)

Maximum 2 images for the design entry.

A short description of the costume and its design in 150 words or less.

File formats must be in .jpg, .png, or .pdf format.

Total email size sent must be under 10MB for us to receive it.

Entries that don’t meet these requirements may need to be disqualified.

Please read the full terms and conditions of the contest before entering.