Bafta has officially launched its second Young Game Designers competition, aimed at encouraging school children to consider a career in the games industry. Keen entrants will be encouraged to get into teams of three and submit their ideas in writing to Bafta. The winning entry is set to be announced at the British Academy Children's awards in November 2011. All children between 11-16 are allowed to enter, and information will be going out through the schools network.
Launched in 2010, the competition is supported by the University of Abertay and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts as well as games publisher, Electronic Arts. Last year's competition received hundreds of entries from throughout the country and was won by a team of students under the name Beached Whale Productions, who produced their idea for a game entitled, HAMSTER: Accidental World Domination. The concept was later developed into a prototype with the help of Dundee-based developer, Electric TopHat, while the team members had a week's work experience at EA's Bright Light studio in Guildford, where the Harry Potter computer games are made.
At the launch event today, Bafta also unveiled Hope and Millie Katana from Waterloo Road and Tyger Drew-Honey from Outnumbered as celebrity ambassadors for the competition; they will be involved throughout the year. "I was invited to the Bafta video game awards last year, and was then invited to get involved with the Young Game Designers competition," said Drew-Honey, whose favourite game is cult sci-fi adventure, Mirror's Edge. "I thought it sounded really interesting. There seems to be a common opinion among parents that gaming is somehow brain-dulling, and that we should be exercising of studying all the time, but there are a lot of educational games out there."
As well as combating the prejudices of parents, the competition is a chance to remind school children that the games industry is a viable career option. When Nesta commissioned a research paper about gaming, the subsequent report entitled Nex Gen, found that only a fraction of children realised games were developed in the UK: most thought that the US and Japan were totally dominant in the sector. On the contrary, Britain has produced some of the world's biggest titles including Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Bafta is planning to accompany the competition with country-wide workshops and events, as well as a range of classroom materials. More information can be found at the competition website.
