The initial line-up, keynote speakers and partners for the 2013 Dare to be Digital ProtoPlay festival have all been announced…Dare ProtoPlay games festival, Dundee City Centre, 8th-11th August
The UK’s biggest indie games festival will feature speakers from Channel 4, National Theatre of Scotland and the V&A, the University of Abertay Dundee announced today.
The industry conference is being run in association with BAFTA on the theme of convergence, looking at where the games industry meets art, film and television.
Projects being discussed include two major gaming firsts – the first game from the National Theatre of Scotland, developed to support the recent Let the Right One In production, and the V&A’s first Game Design Residency.
ProtoPlay marks the end of Dare to be Digital, the international game design contest for students run in Dundee each summer by Abertay University.
Speakers for the conference include:- Imre Jele, Creator-In-Chief, Bossa Studios
- Colin Macdonald, Games Commissioning Editor, Channel 4
- Jody Smith, Multiplatform Commissioning Editor, Channel 4
- Philippa Tomlin, Creative Director of Other, National Theatre of Scotland
- Tom deMajo from Other’s game developer, Quartic Llama
- Sophia George, the V&A’s first Game Designer in Residence
- Kirk Ewing, cross-media entrepreneur and founder of VEEMEE and Zappar
Elaine Russell, Dare to be Digital Project Manager, said:
Dare ProtoPlay is an incredible event, and this year we’re adding an extra day because of the huge demand from thousands of members of the public to see the amazing games being created in the UK.
We’re delighted to welcome such prestigious cultural organisations as BAFTA, Channel 4, the National Theatre of Scotland and the V&A to talk about how games are converging with every area of art and culture – and offer such great potential to create completely new experiences for audiences.”
Last year saw 10,000 visitors enjoy the 15 student Dare to be Digital games, plus work from new and established independent studios in the Dare Indie Fest showcase.
Game development studios are invited to show their latest titles for free to thousands of members of the annual game festival.Elaine told us:
Having the opportunity to meet your audience and get their immediate feedback is a really important part of the development process, for new and established companies.
We look forward to receiving lots of varied, exciting entries for this year’s Dare Indie Fest games showcase.
Any game can be submitted for the showcase, but priority will be given to new and unreleased games – giving the thousands of visitors the first chance to see exciting new games, at various stages of development.
Hosted and run by the University of Abertay Dundee, Dare to be Digital gives students a life-changing opportunity to be mentored by games industry experts – and to take the stage at the BAFTA Video Games Awards as winners of the exclusive Ones To Watch award.
The Dare ProtoPlay computer games festival is open to the public from Thursday August 8 to Sunday August 11 in Dundee’s Caird Hall and City Square. The event is sponsored by Creative Scotland, Dundee City Council and EventScotland.
Last year saw over 10,000 people of all ages – from toddlers to grandparents – enjoying the fun-packed weekend.
Details on booking conference tickets and registering for the games showcase can all be found here.The Scottish Games Network will be there – with some exciting and ground-breaking news and there may yet be other speakers and participants to announce in the very near future.
Watch this space.
It’s a huge opportunity for the whole industry. Not simply as bums on seats, or ticket sales, but as an integral part of the programme. Almost every company in Scotland will be there, either as judges, mentors, exhibitors, speakers, jammers or gamers.
Whatever you have planned in August, wherever you’re going to be, make sure you have at least one day in Dundee. ProtoPlay is fast becoming the country’s most exciting and innovative video games event.
…and we don’t just mean Scotland…