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BAFTA Workshop to Inspire Young People to Design Their Own Game

15 May 2012
BAFTA YGD logo 2012

Workshop to be live-streamed from National Media Museum, Bradford on Thursday 17 May, 13.00


Teachers and students are invited by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to watch a live-streamed workshop aimed at teaching young people more about video game-making and inspiring them to make a game of their own.

The workshop, taking place at Bradford’s National Media Museum at 13:00 on Thursday 17 May, is part of BAFTA Young Game Designers 2012, a competition that aims to inspire the game designers and game-makers of the future by giving young people aged 11-16 the chance to design and create their own video game and develop it with industry professionals.

The live-stream will be broadcast at www.bafta.org/ygd from 13:00 until 14:30. Those who tune in will hear from leading figures in the games industry, including Hal Sandbach, Senior Designer at Evolution Studios, Tom Woolley, Curator of New Media at the National Media Museum, and John Dennis, former Head of Design on the Worms series of games. Viewers will get insights on how commercial games are made, and receive tips on how to create their own game. They can also tweet their questions at @BAFTAGames and the best will be put to the experts. An edited version of the workshop will be available after the event at www.bafta.org/ygd.

The BAFTA Young Game Designers competition is open to 11-16 year olds and has attracted hundreds of entries from across the UK every year since it began in 2010. This year, for the first time, young people have two ways to enter:

The Concept Award is for those who have an idea for a new game, and can describe the characters, the world of the game, and how it will be played.

The Game-making Award, presented by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), will suit young people who want to make their own games using game-making software or programming languages. This is their chance to show off their technical skills as well as their creativity.

Young people can enter one or both categories, either as an individual, as a pair or as a team of three. The top three entrants in both categories will be invited to the British Academy Children’s Awards in November 2012, and the winners will have their game developed with experts from the University of Abertay Dundee, as well as visiting a leading games studio.

Future workshops are taking place at the following:

  • Games Britannia Festival, Rotherham – Wednesday 4 July
  • TeenTech schools event, Humber – Thursday 12 July
  • Dare ProtoPlay, Dundee – Friday 10 August
  • Edinburgh Interactive Festival – Saturday 11 August
  • Eurogamer Expo, London – dates tbc

BAFTA has partnered with Abertay University and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) on the initiative. The competition is open to all young people in the UK aged 11-16. The deadline for entries is 22 October 2012. Further details about how to enter, as well as teaching resources and details of workshops around the country, can be found at www.bafta.org/ygd.

Quote from Maria Stukoff, Head of Academic Development and Partnerships:

“This is explosive! We are very excited to partner with BAFTA and Abertay University and provide opportunities for young game-makers to showcase their games. This is a great initiative to acquire new skills and to learn all about the video game industry and the variety of career paths open to talented creators!"


For further information, please contact:
Elizabeth Porter
Tel: 020 7010 0851
Email: [email protected]

Hollie Rendall
Tel: 020 7010 0829
Email: [email protected]


About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.


About Abertay University

Abertay University launched the world’s first computer games technology degree in 1997, and runs both the UK Centre of Excellence for Computer Games Education and the international game design contest Dare to be Digital.

Our unique partnership with BAFTA makes Dare the exclusive pathway to the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, a major recognition of up-and-coming games talent.

Through the Abertay University Prototype Fund start-up and small developers across the UK have access to funding to create new prototypes and attract additional investment, another practical way Abertay supports the growth of a sustainable, successful games industry.

Abertay has the highest number of Skillset accreditations for computer games courses (five out of 12 across the UK) as well as holding full Skillset Media Academy status, recognition of the important industry skills that are developed on our courses.

For more information please visit www.abertay.ac.uk/studying/schools/amg/


About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 109 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com.

PlayStation, the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.


YGD Bradford Workshop Press Release (80.5 KB)
YGD Bradford Workshop Press Release PDF (87.8 KB)