Dare to be Digital names its final three

After months of intense and impassioned game development, the Dare to be Digital contest has selected its final three winning teams.

The Butterflyers, Gentlemen of Fortune and Pixel Pirates have each walked away from Edinburgh Festival Fringe with £2,500 in hand and – ultimately – a chance to win the coveted Ones To Watch BAFTA prize.

Back in April, fourteen teams from six different parts of the world were announced as finalists for the Dare to be Digital contest.

Each team had a prototype of their original game, which was developed into a final build during an intense ten-week course at the University of Abertay in Dundee.

With access to high-end development tools and equipment, as well as mentoring from some of the biggest names in the games industry, the fourteen teams finally revealed their finished work last week at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.

But only three could walk away as the winners of Dare to be Digital, a game design contest that’s now in its tenth year, and one that sees – on average – over 80 per cent of participants go on to get jobs in the games industry.

The three BAFTA-award finalists, selected by the public and industry members, had each come from Abertay University. Portsmouth University’s Inertia Interactive won the Intel Visual Adrenaline Award, while Abertay’s Five Armed Bandits took the Audience Award.

The industry judging panel was comprised of companies such as Sony, Rockstar North, Ninja Theory, Disney, Blitz Games Studios, BAFTA, Realtime Worlds, Denki and Rare.

“I was impressed with the level of quality at this year’s Dare Protoplay, which just keeps on getting better,” said Andy Nuttall of the BAFTA games judging panel.

“Each team showed determination to impress both through their games and their pitches, with plenty of originality and technical achievement on show. It was difficult to pick three to go forward, and choosing one for the ultimate ‘Ones to Watch’ award at the BAFTAs will be particularly tough."