Representatives from ten development studios have pledged support for
Dare to be Digital, an upcoming game design competition developed by the University of Abertay Dundee. The studios will provide mentoring support for this year's student design teams, and will help to determine which teams will become finalists in the competition.
Black Rock Studio, Blitz Games Studios, Cohort Studios, Denki, Ninja Theory, Rare, Realtime Worlds, Rockstar North, Sega and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have all joined Dare to be Digital's "Developer Accord." The Accord will judge entries and pick finalist teams at three selection events to take place in London, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
Student-led development teams chosen by Abertay judges and by the Developer Accord will travel to the "Dare Hothouse" at Abertay University to complete their proposed design project for the competition. The design period will last ten weeks, during which the teams will receive a stipend and mentoring from the Developer Accord.
"The combination of experience and expertise brought by the members of our Developer Accord is second to none," said Abertay University director of business development Paul Durrant. "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."