Dare Academy returns with £20,000 prize fund

Abertay University and the InGAME R&D hub are backing Dundee’s next generation of video games designers through a £20,000 prize pot for the return of Dare Academy.

Abertay’s annual video games design competition Dare Academy will return this summer in an online format, after being postponed due to the pandemic last year.

The contest is designed to reproduce an industry environment and has a long track record of producing start-up companies, many of which have gone on to achieve significant commercial success.

This year, the winning studio will receive a cash injection of £5,000 in addition to £15,000 worth of support and services from InGAME, including organisational design and commercialisation support, priority access to InGAME facilities and testbeds, access to InGAME specialists and senior industry figures, and assistance to access future investment opportunities.

Over the course of the summer, the studios will design prototype games under the stewardship of mentors from the games industry, before a judging panel declares the winner in September.

Sean Taylor, Project Director of InGAME said: “We’re thrilled to be backing Dare Academy this year and we are really excited to lend support to the winning team.

“InGAME is all about driving products, service and experience innovation across the Dundee games sector and beyond and Dare Academy never fails to produce a range of creative new ideas.”

Abertay is Europe's top ranked institution for video games education and the 2021 Sunday Times University of the Year for Teaching Quality.

Dr Lynn Love of Abertay University’s School of Design and Informatics said: “We’re really pleased that we’re able to run Dare Academy in 2021.

“The competition is a huge event in our calendar was sorely missed last year, and we can’t wait to see what games are brought to the table this time around.

“We’re always blown away by the standard and we expect it to be more of the same this year.”

Visit our Dare Academy pages for more information or follow @AbertayDare on Twitter.