This year's Scotland-based Dare to be Digital student game development competition will now include Finland and Iceland, thanks to a grant from the Scottish government.
Organizers for the Scotland-based 2011 Dare to be Digital student game development contest said the Scottish government granted £85,700 ($143,000) for this year's event, allowing teams from Finland and Iceland to participate for the first time. Hosted and run by the University of Abertay Dundee, the Scotland-based competition is targeted towards undergrad and post-grad game designers, programmers, digital artists and audio engineers who want to gain recognition and possibly break into the game development industry. The teams from Finland and Iceland will be able to compete alongside other overseas teams from countries with existing funding for participation, including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, China and India. Applications are currently open at the official website, and the deadline is April 3. "The funding will allow one team from the Nordic countries to come to Scotland," explained Abertay University's Dr. Louis Natanson. "There will be a fierce competition already among the Nordic countries before the final winner will join Dare. We are expecting a very high standard of potential teams.” At Dare to be Digital, participating students form four- or five-person teams and work together to create a fully-functional video game prototype. Industry experts will choose the teams that will take part in this year's contest. At the end of the development period, experts judge the games and winners receive BAFTA's "Ones To Watch" award. For Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop, Dare to be Digital isn't just about encouraging creativity among aspiring game creators -- it's also about Scotland getting a foothold and earning a strong reputation in a burgeoning industry. "Scottish creativity and our great strengths in the computer games industry are internationally-renowned," Hyslop said in a statement. "Through our Creative Industries Strategy, we intend to build on that reputation and on the talent that already exists in Scotland in order to secure economic growth."
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