DARING DIGITAL

The future stars of the UK’s billion pound games industry could emerge from a unique competition aimed at university students, Dare to be Digital 2004, which launches in Dundee this week.

Predicted as having "a major impact on the global games industry in the near future" by Richard Leinfellner, Vice President of Executive in charge of Production for leading games publisher Electronic Arts (EA), the annual Dare to be Digital competition is a joint venture between the University of Abertay Dundee, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Dundee City Council.

Open to students from across all Scottish Universities and Colleges of Art, teams made up of five students will be asked to submit a concept for a new and original computer game or educational entertainment product. Judging the competition will be a panel of leading industry experts, who will be looking for the most creative ideas and those that fulfil the greatest market potential. Teams who make it through will have only 10 weeks to present a finished digital prototype and business sales document which can be pitched to investors.

The six teams, who will work from Dundee and have access to the cutting edge facilities at the University of Abertay, will be paid on a weekly basis and supported by experienced industry specialists, who will offer technical, creative and business advice – mentors who are inaccessible to any student outside the Dare project.

Dundee is one of the UK’s most important games centres and is widely regarded as the home of the Scottish games industry, housing over half of the country’s companies in the area. The number of people employed in computer games development companies in Scotland is around 500 people with a collective turnover of £20m. Dundee employs over a quarter of the related Scottish workforce.

In an industry that complains of the lack of ‘real-world’ application where academic courses are concerned, the Dare to be Digital competition is seen as actively addressing this problem by successfully bridging the gap, with five new companies set up by Dare teams.

As testament to the strength of work produced by past entrants, team members from last year’s two winning teams - who produced the PC based role-playing game Demon Lore and multiple solution puzzle winning game Zoo Crew – were asked to present to EA staff at their headquarters in Chertsey and were hired on the spot. Other Dare ‘graduates’ are working with games companies in Dundee and throughout the UK.

Due to the high level of excellence generated by the competition over the last three years, two new sponsors have come on board for 2004, Microsoft and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, NESTA, which join BBC Scotland Interactive and NCR.

For the 2004 competition, Scottish students will be joined by entries from Ireland. The Irish entry is being co-ordinated by The Digital Hub. Previously Dare has had teams from Japan and Malaysia and organisers hope that this international feeder to the competition will encourage further interest from global partner universities in 2005.

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Dundee in September, where teams will compete for a prize fund of £5000 as well as follow up-support to develop their prototype to commercial reality. An Endeavour Prize of £1000 will also be awarded to the team who has shown the most effort and progression.

Shona Cormack, the Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Tayside, said:

"Dare to be Digital plays a leading role in supporting future talent for the digital and interactive industries and SET is delighted to have supported the competition through funding since its inception. The digital economy is a key component of Scotland's future. Ensuring there is a skill-base to allow this industry to thrive is a fundamental requirement and one we actively support in Tayside. The inclusion of international teams and the presence of judges from companies such as Electronic Arts and the BBC are welcome developments that confirms the value of this innovative competition."

As part of the launch, Dare to be Digital will be visiting Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen throughout February and March, where students will be able to find out more, meet with some of last year's teams, hear from BBC Scotland and have the chance to win an Xbox, and other prizes donated by Microsoft. Students wishing to attend one of these events should visit www.daretobedigital.com

ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, announced last month of the continued buoyant growth in the UK computer and video games market. UK sales of leisure software products reached an all time high in 2003, with values reaching £1.26 billion, an increase of 7.1 per cent over the previous year.

Entries close on 19th April. Dare to be Digital will be visiting the following cities–

Monday 16th February, Glasgow, The Lighthouse 4 - 5.30pm

Tuesday 25th February, Edinburgh, Royal Museum of Scotland 4 - 5.30pm

Wednesday 3rd March, Aberdeen, Hog’s Head 12 - 1.30pm