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Dare To Be Digital 2007 Now Open to SE England

Dare To Be Digital Logo Last year I wrote a couple of posts on the Dundee-based games development competition for students, Dare To Be Digital.

This year’s contest is now accepting entries from London and the South East of England. For those living elsewhere, I do apologise for not covering this earlier. The Irish and Scottish application deadline was apparently 11th April 2007. There doesn’t seem to be a Welsh centre this year.

If you’re a university student in London or recently graduated and you want to get into video game development, this competition is probably the best start you can get. I interviewed former competitor Stephen McGreal. He was team leader of Zoo Crew, who won the prize for “Greatest Market Potential” back in 2003. Since the competition Stephen has worked for EA and Rockstar Leeds:

It’s fair to say that I would have had a much harder time getting into the industry if I hadn’t been in Dare. One of the senior guys from EA was on the judging panel that year, and was so impressed that he invited the two winning teams down to the studio in Chertsey to present our Dare projects to the rest of the studio. To cut a long story short, 3 of us were basically hired on the spot. So in terms of actually getting into the industry, Dare was great.

What games companies want to see from graduate employees is not necessarily how good their grades are, but an example of what they’re actually capable of. Dare gives you a great showcase. It means you can turn out a demo which shows exactly what you’re capable of under stressful conditions, and if games companies can see that, it makes it a lot easier for them to decide if they want to hire you.

Dare To Be Digital is a notoriously intensive competition. The team has to develop a playable game prototype in just 10 weeks. Press release extract:

Teams of 5 students, a mix of artists and programmers, assemble in a regional hosting centre 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 will be displayed at a special talent showcasing event in Edinburgh, Dare ProtoPlay, alongside the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival in August. In a first for Dare, the general public as well as industry experts will get to play and vote for the games. Prizes will then be awarded to the winning teams at a special awards ceremony in Dundee.

Emphasis mine.

This year’s Dare To Be Digital is running from 6th June 2007 to 16th August 2007. You will have to commit 35 hours a week to the competition. The London and the South East regional centre is in EA’s Guildford offices. There is the chance of a week’s leave, with the permission of your team and the Project Manager.

So, are you an aspiring games developer? Did you graduate within the past 2 years from a London or South East university,or are you still studying there? Then it’s time to get your team together and enter this competition. The application deadline is either 7th May (acccording to the press release) or 20th May (according to the official website). I’d say hedge your bets and get your application in ASAP.

I’ll be covering the progress of this UK-based games development competition as it progresses. Check back in June or subscribe to our newsfeed if you don’t want to miss out.

I’ll leave you with some advice from Stephen…

Have fun. If you’re not having fun making the game, there’s a pretty good chance that the game you’re making isn’t fun. And nobody likes games which aren’t fun.

Links:
Dare To Be Digital Official Website