Could an Irish student create the next Angry Birds?

Dare to be Digital is an international video games development competition for third-level students. The Irish leg has just been launched by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) and is supported by the North-South Cooperation Unit at the Department of Education and Skills.
“This competition offers students a foot in the door of the gaming industry, which – without doubt – is one of the most exciting and booming industries in Ireland,” said Dr. Stephen Brennan director of marketing and strategy with the DHDA. “Not only is it bucking the trend by creating jobs at a time of national recession, it is also continuously evolving in response to new technological developments.”
In Ireland, Dare to be Digital runs to promote cross-border links: teams applying to enter the competition must include students from third-level institutions in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Teams of five students – usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio specialists – can apply. Successful applicants will spend nine weeks at Abertay University in Scotland in summer 2012, developing prototype video games and receiving mentoring from industry experts. Participating students receive a weekly stipend of £150 each, free accommodation at the University’s halls of residence, and a team budget of £200.

More details here.

Case Study: Nevermind Games
Alan Boyce, chief operating officer at Nevermind Games, a start-up established as a result of Dare to be Digital.
“Two years ago, myself and four team-mates competed in Dare,” says Boyce. “When we returned from Scotland, we set up as a games studio, establishing Nevermind Games. We were incorporated as a company last year, and we’re currently working on our first release for iOS, a 2-D puzzle game called TroubleSum.
“We’ve been accepted onto LIT’s LEAP programme – an enterprise acceleration programme – and we’ll be looking for investment over the coming months. We’re also going to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March, so we’ll be hoping to increase our profile there and make links with international companies.
“None of this would have happened if we hadn’t participated in Dare. We received excellent mentoring at Abertay, and the encouragement and experience we received were instrumental in us deciding to establish our company.”

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