BAFTA nominees announced at Dare ProtoPlay
Picture shows BAFTA-nominated teams at Dare to be Digital 2016: top left Bluedoor Games, top right Ludico, and front Team Rebound, with Abertay University lecturers Lynn Parker (front left) and Dr William Huber (front right).
The three teams nominated for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award have been announced at Scotland’s biggest computer games festival today (Sunday 7 August).
Over the last four days, around 13,000 people have flocked to Dare ProtoPlay in Dundee’s Caird Hall and City Square. Organised by Abertay University, it is the finale of Dare to be Digital – the University’s world-renowned games design competition. This year has seen 16 student teams from countries including Belgium, Brazil, France, India and the USA travel to Dundee to showcase their creations.
The winners are Among the Stones by Bluedoor Games, a creative puzzle platformer that follows a young adventurer around a mysterious island; Pentagrab by Ludico, a 2D arcade game where up to four players control mischievous cultists sacrificing items in pursuit of points; and Rebound by Team Rebound, a multiplayer sci-fi dodgeball game described by the creators as 'an out of control mess of crazed rebounding action.'
The three winning teams become the exclusive nominees for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, a prize which can only be won by entering Abertay University’s Dare to be Digital.
Lukasz Gomula from Bluedoor Games said: 'It’s amazing and surprising. We thought we might win something but not the BAFTA nomination. Taking part in Dare to be Digital has been fantastic, especially meeting the teams from around the world.'
Andrew Fullarton from Ludico said: 'We did not expect this to be honest. The BAFTA nomination is the best prize we could have won. This is going to take us places.'
Andrew Graham from Team Rebound said: 'We were just happy to be one of the finalist teams at Dare to be Digital. We genuinely didn’t expect to get the One to Watch nomination. I’m excited for the future now.'
Glaze by Crowbar Games won the Channel 4 Award. The team will receive £25,000 of support to start a business and complete their game, which will then be published by the broadcaster.
Ludico’s game Pentagrab also picked up the Audience Award sponsored by Sony Playstation, for the most popular game of Dare ProtoPlay. It was chosen by members of the public who were asked to vote for their favourite game throughout the four-day festival.
The team members of Bluedoor Games. Ludico and Crowbar Games are all games design students at Abertay University. Team Rebound is made up of students from Glasgow Caledonian University.
Professor Gregor White, Head of Abertay’s School of Arts, Media and Computer Games, commented:
'The standard of the entries to Dare to be Digital this year was outstanding, giving the judges a particularly hard task in choosing the three winners.
'However, Among the Stones, Pentagrab and Rebound are excellent games and deserve their nominations for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award.
'Dare to be Digital is an internationally-renowned competition and this year’s competitors have come to Dundee from all around the globe; that all three winning games are from Scotland is testament to the high standard of games design education at our universities.'
'We expect that all of this year’s Dare to be Digital contestants, wherever they have joined us in Dundee from, will go on to make even more creative, captivating and inspiring games as they take their first steps into the industry.'
The BAFTA Ones to Watch winners will be announced at the British Academy Games Awards early in 2017.
The judging panel for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award at Dare ProtoPlay 2016 was made up representatives from the following companies:
Denki
Guerilla Tea
LCW
Ninja Kiwi
Outplay
SEGA
Sony
Storm Cloud Games
Tag Games
For further information, please contact Kevin Coe on 01382 308452, 07850 904110 or K.Coe@abertay.ac.uk.
