Author: by Staff

Gamasutra and sister sites GameCareerGuide and GameSetWatch are presenting a new competition for future-oriented developers, with 20 All-Access GDC Passes (collectively worth over $40,000!) available for lucky winners who can imagine what video games might be like in the year 2020. The prizes in this special competition are awarded thanks to Green Label Gaming. The Mountain Dew-backed gaming label is heavily supporting innovative gaming at GDC this year, and is committed to empowering the emerging talent helping to shape the future of the industry. In addition to the GDC All-Access passes, Green Label Gaming is adding $10,000 to the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival, to make the IGF's top prize $30,000 this year. We know the kind of break-out games that are popular in 2009, from World Of Goo to LittleBigPlanet and beyond. But how about in 2020? Can you predict what kind of games will be smash hits, how they will be delivered, and how we will consume games as an entertainment medium? As you may know, there are people called futurists who get awarded to talk about what hasn't happened yet. So that's what we're letting competition entrants be for this test, with the winners being showcased in a special Gamasutra feature. Therefore, for this competition, devise the name of a game that will be popular or cutting-edge tech in 2020, and write a description of how it is controlled, as well as its chief design concepts and innovations. Use illustrations if you think it'll help your point, and also try to give an impression of the minute to minute gameplay that you'll play through while advancing in this game. Obviously, a lot of the game genres or concepts may be the same as today, even in 2020 - for example, role-playing games will still have orcs and goblins in them, perhaps? But how will you control your player, what extra detail or interactivity will you see in the game, how will that mesh with the real world, and how will these titles be additionally social and fulfilling? We're presuming that the most cutting-edge games of 2020 may use some of the same game mechanics of today's games, but different ways of being integrated into your lifestyle and controlled. More complex gesture controls? Direct brain control of games? Wearable devices that keep you playing on the move? Games that work seamlessly into your work time? There's plenty of opportunity for invention here, both in design and control methods. The competition prizes, supported by Mountain Dew's Green Label Gaming as part of their Platinum Sponsorship of this year's Independent Games Festival, will be twenty All-Access passes to this year's Game Developer's Conference; total prize value over $40,000. Please enter the competition by sending your entry to [email protected] by Wednesday, March 4th at 11.59pm PST - and good luck! [Gamasutra editors will collectively judge the entries, and winners will be notified via email within 24 hours of the competition's completion. The contest allows one entry per person, and they can be submitted from anywhere in the world. You will retain all rights to your game concept, but we may reprint it as part of the competition results. The prize consists of one All-Access Pass to GDC, but does not include any associated travel or hotel costs.]