Record applications for Dare to be Digital

Over one hundred teams from almost eighty international universities have applied for entry into Dare to be Digital’s 2010 competition.

Now in its eleventh year, the event has acted as a point of entry for many aspiring young developers into the games industry. Last years’ winners, The Butterflyers, went on to win a BAFTA ‘Ones to Watch’ award.

The call for entries for this year’s event closed last Sunday, and the judging panel has now started the process of picking out the teams that will make it through to the interview stage.

The judges come from members of the UK Dare Developer Accord which includes the BBC, Blitz Games Studios, Cohort Studios, Denki, Rare, Realtime Worlds, Rockstar North, SEGA, Sony and Ubisoft.

"We are thrilled that Dare has received so much attention from so many aspiring students,” said Dare to be Digital project manager Elaine Russell.

"The growing global reach proves that the UK’s video games development community is in a very strong position to attract talent. We have a fantastic line-up of Developer Accord members who provide help with judging as well as mentors to advise and help the students during the competition, which this year will take place in Abertay University’s national centre for excellence in computer games education," she added.

The teams selected for the main phase will be announced in May. The main phase of Dare to be Digital 2010 will start on 7 June at Abertay University in Dundee.