A competition for students to develop an online game for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has begun, offering students the opportunity to create the concept for an online game that will then be developed for the event website.

The competition is open to any student studying in Scotland, with both the winner and runner-up receiving a cash prize of £2,014, while the winner will work alongside games development firm 4J Studios in creating the game, which will appear on the Glasgow 2014 website.

John Scott, chief executive of Glasgow 2014, spoke to The Drum about the competition and the thinking behind it.
“This is part of the conversations that we have been having with the partners including the Scottish Government around the legacy impact that we can generate as part of the Games and with the way that digital technology is moving forward and the approach that we have taken in the design of our logo and brand design,” explained Scott. “This is about recognising that Scotland has got a great heritage with the gaming industry. This is a great opportunity to encourage the next generation to get involved with the concept using the platform of 2014.”

Asked what the Organizing Committee hoped would be achieved through the use of the online game, Scott said that they were hopeful that the quality of the game itself would appeal to those both within and outwith the Commonwealth and attract people to use the site.

Scott described the brief handed to the students as ‘a blank piece of paper’ which he hoped would mean that some ‘really striking ideas’ would be developed as a result.

“The brief will obviously consider the limitations of putting the game onto a website; it has to suit being placed on a website and will also be suitable for the Commonwealth market as well and recognise the core markets. It must also stay true to the core values of the brand and the commonwealth, those are some of the things that we’re trying to communicate, but beyond that it really is up to them to be creative. It doesn’t have to be about sport, it could be a quiz game, there’s lots of ways that they can approach it. It really is letting the creativity of the students come to the fore.”

The competition will run for a period of eight weeks, where upon the winning entry will be developed by 4J Studios over an eight-10 week period, for launch in late Spring/early Summer.

Scott added that the game would run on the website over the rest of the period in the build-up to the event itself, but that it would be upgraded over time, depending on the game design.