BAFTA Young Game Designers gets a reboot
"We're now able to reach more young people, from a wider age group, than ever before"
BAFTA is overhauling its Young Game Designers competition, partnering with Nominet Trust to help build on the work it does encouraging children and teenagers to explore the games industry.
"BAFTA Young Game Designers has fast become an invaluable resource for budding game designers across the UK," said Harvey Elliott, chair of the BAFTA Games Committee.
"With the support of our partners, including our new headline partner the Nominet Trust, we're now able to reach more young people, from a wider age group, than ever before, with an enhanced online presence and more workshops. The two new categories for the YGD Awards will help us celebrate all the unsung heroes who give their time to help the next generation of creative game-makers."
The reboot includes new schemes to address the lack of women currently working in the industry as well as a changes to the competition: an expanded age range and two new awards. The YGD Mentor Award and YGD Hero Award will join the existing categories, the Game Concept Award and Game Making Award.
For more details on the competition, which will open for submissions from 10-18 year-olds next spring, visit the official site.
Other partners in the scheme include EA's Criterion Games, Bethesda Softworks, SEGA, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, King, Jagex, Google, Pinewood Studios Group and Unity.