It’s that time again. 15 teams from 16 universities around the world are now in Dundee, with only NINE weeks to create a working videogame, before showing it off to members of the public at the ProtoPlay event in central Dundee in August.
This year’s event is larger than ever before. Entries were received from teams at 70 universities across the UK, China, India, Denmark and the republic of Ireland. A panel of industry experts whittled the concepts down to the top 15, who are now competing for fame, glory and the fabled BAFTA Ones To Watch Award.
Dare of course has incredible industry support, with developers across the UK and multiple corporations and organisations supporting the competition.
Several key supporters chipped in to give their opinions on the 2011 competition:
Andrew Semple, Studio Director at Rockstar North, said: “Dare to be Digital provides an important platform for fostering and bringing on new talent to the videogames industry. Rockstar is honoured to once again lend its support and provide mentoring to this year’s competitors.”
Richard Hare, co-founder and President of Dundee-based Outplay Entertainment, said: “Dare to be Digital has pioneered the search for new talent, championed the ‘indie’ games ethos and supported the next generation of developers like no other event in the world.
“The competition is now over a decade old and has been recognised as one of the most valuable experiences a student can gain if they’re serious about entering the games industry. We’re delighted to be supporting such a unique and challenging event and we look forward to seeing what the teams can produce in such a tight timeframe.”
Dr Louis Natanson, Academic Director of the Institute for Arts, Media and Computer Games at Abertay University, added: “The students starting Dare to be Digital today are some of the most promising young game designers anywhere in the world. We’re expecting great games to emerge over the next nine weeks.
“Dare to be Digital is a really unique opportunity to get noticed by the games industry, and competition to take part gets fiercer and fiercer every year. We wish all the teams the very best and look forward to playing their games at Dare ProtoPlay in Dundee in August!”
We’re looking forward to seeing some of the games in progress over the coming weeks…
