Microsoft Announces Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge
Today Microsoft opened registration for the Dream.Build.Play 2011 Challenge, a contest sponsored by Microsoft to encourage worldwide independent game developers to create fun and innovative games using XNA Game Studio.
Previous winners, including Beat Hazard, CarneyVale Showtime and Weapon of Choice, have gone on to become top sellers on Xbox LIVE Indie Games. In addition, several finalists from previous contests received Xbox LIVE Arcade contracts, including 2009’s winner, Dust: An Elysian Tail.
Each game will be judged on three standards: how fun it is to play, how creative and unique it is, and how well it is produced. Four winners will be given a share of $75,000 (U.S.) and the opportunity to receive an Xbox LIVE Arcade publishing contract. The grand prize winner will receive $40,000 (U.S.), the first prize winner will receive $20,000 (U.S.), the second prize winner will receive $10,000 (U.S.) and the third prize winner will receive $5,000 (U.S.).
“Microsoft has always valued the creativity and innovative thinking that comes from independent developers,” said Mark Seminatore, Principal Development Manager in the Xbox Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft. “We’ve hosted the Dream.Build.Play contest for the past five years in an effort to support and nurture that talent.”
“Each year we are amazed at the quality of games submitted to the Dream.Build.Play Challenge,” said Pete Isensee, Principal Program Manager in the Xbox Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft. “I can’t wait to see what indie developers will create this year.”
All games submitted to the contest need to be created with XNA Game Studio 4.0, which enables developers to easily make games for Xbox 360, Windows-based PCs and Windows Phones. Since its initial release in 2006, XNA Game Studio has been downloaded over 1 million times, making it one of the most comprehensive and trusted game development tools in the industry.
More information on the Dream.Build.Play Challenge, including official rules, can be found at http://www.dreambuildplay.com. More information on XNA Game Studio can be found at http://create.msdn.com.
Martin Baker
By day I play video games, test video games or just simply write about them. By night I fight crime on the streets of London as a masked vigilante known only to a select few ... damn SECRET identity. Could never get the hang of that.
I've been writing about video games for about 10 years now, and playing them for even longer, starting off with a Spectrum ZX passed down to me in about 1988. Yes, I used to play games that came on cassettes. Yes, they were AWESOME!
I've been writing for God is a Geek since October 2010 and loving every minute of it, aside from that I write for my own website and work as a video game tester for Testology. So, yeah, I'm pretty much living the life of a gamer, and I don't intend stopping anytime soon thank you very much.
Unless I run out of money, then we might have a problem.
