Dare to be Digital 2009

An elite group of UK games developers and BBC Scotland are offering mentors to support Dare to be Digital, the ground breaking international computer game design competition developed by the University of Abertay Dundee.

Black Rock Studio, Blitz Games Studios, BBC Scotland, Cohort Studios, Denki, Ninja Theory, Rare, Realtime Worlds, Rockstar North, SEGA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have all joined the ‘Developer Accord’, to provide mentoring support for this year’s Dare to be Digital teams.

Paul Durrant, Director of Business Development at Abertay University said: “The combination of experience and expertise brought by the members of our Developer Accord is second to none. We have attracted support from the cream of development studios throughout the UK. The students taking part in this year’s competition will benefit from the experience of the best in the business”

Members of the Developer Accord will help to determine the choice of teams at three UK selection events, taking place in London, Liverpool and Glasgow. Teams selected by the developers will go forward to the ‘Dare hothouse’ at Abertay University in Dundee. International teams will be hand-picked at similar selection events taking place worldwide.

“Dare to be Digital has become a unique and unifying project for the development community” continued Durrant, “All of the members of the Developer Accord are participating on an equal basis because they recognise the value of the project to the future of the games sector.”

Teams selected for the hothouse will receive a stipend, industry mentoring from members of the Developer Accord, accommodation, hardware/software and development space for the ten weeks of the competition. This culminates in a live final at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, where industry members will choose the three winning teams. Those teams then go onto become the nominees for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, which was created by BAFTA exclusively for Dare to be Digital winners .

Dare to be Digital is sponsored by many of the world’s leading technology and media companies and organisations including: Intel, Turner Broadcasting, Autodesk, Adobe, amBX, Microsoft, The Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, and Dundee City Council.

Notes for Editors

Dare to be Digital is a video games development competition for undergraduates at universities and colleges of art. Teams of five students, usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio specialists, assemble in the development hothouse for 10 weeks to develop a prototype video game, receiving daily support and weekly training sessions from industry specialists.

At the end of the competition, the prototypes are displayed at a special talent showcasing event in Edinburgh, Dare ProtoPlay, alongside the Edinburgh Interactive Festival in August. The general public as well as industry experts get to play and vote for the games. Prizes are then awarded to the winning teams at a special awards ceremony. Later in the year the winning teams attend the BAFTA Video Games Awards to compete for the coveted "Ones to Watch Award.

Media enquires: Vicki White T:01382 308935 M: 07837 250284 W: v.white@abertay.ac.uk