Legendary studio behind Candy Crush Saga providing iPad minis to each member of winning team for The Hacktacular Award at both Pinewood Studios and Abertay University events
TIGA, the trade association representing the video game industry has announced King as its latest partner for the upcoming 24 hour TIGA GameHack events at Abertay University and Pinewood Studios on the 16th and 17th of November.
King will also be providing the prize for The Hacktacular Award, and is generously providing an iPad mini for each member of the winning team at both events, in Dundee and Buckinghamshire.
TIGA GameHack will challenge the best and brightest of the UK games development industry to come together for a truly unique creative experience, with participants being challenged to develop a game from scratch in just 24 hours.
King is a worldwide leader in casual games with more than 30 billion games played per month globally, and is the studio behind Candy Crush Saga, one of the largest interactive entertainment franchises of all time. The company has a huge amount of expertise on providing highly engaging content to an audience to match their mobile lifestyles: anywhere, anytime, through any platform and on any device.
The other rewards on offer to UK developers, in addition to valuable recognition, networking and learning opportunities, include the £5,000 cash prize (£2,000 with a further £3,000 to publish a game on GameStick – the world’s most portable TV games console) and half a day motion capture studio time with Centroid 3D. This is in addition to a BlackBerry Q10 or Z10 device for each winning team member for the BlackBerry ‘Endless Runner’ challenge.
For ARM’s and Playjam’s categories, participants will be provided with Unity for Android and ARM tools including emulators. Attendees at both the Abertay and Pinewood events will receive help and support throughout from ARM’s & Playjam’s teams, on hand to advise and provide cutting edge tricks of the trade for maximising the graphical performance of portable gaming devices.
GameHack is now open for registration for TIGA members and non-members alike. For more information visit: www.gamehack.co.uk. To register for the event, please visit https://www.tiga.org/events/tiga-gamehack. Tickets are just £5, plus 95 pence to cover the cost of processing payments. All ticket revenue goes to SpecialEffect, a UK based charity, which uses video games and technology to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities.
The TIGA 2013 24-hour GameHack is supported by Gold sponsors ARM and PlayJam, Bronze sponsor BlackBerry, snacks sponsor Unity Technologies and prize sponsor Centroid.
Dr. Richard Wilson, CEO, TIGA commented:
“TIGA GameHack is going from strength to strength, with more support, more attendees, more events and bigger prizes. None of which would be possible without the backing of TIGA’s leading members, like King. We are very grateful for King’s on-going support, and look forward to working with the team to deliver the best TIGA Gamehack yet. These events will provide developers with the perfect opportunity to experiment with new game ideas, collaborate with new teams and work in a new environment.”
Orna Holland, Senior Talent Director, King, added:
“King is very pleased to support TIGA GameHack 2013. We are fully committed to supporting the UK developer and gaming community, and events like this are a fantastic way for people to come together to network, learn and rise to a unique creative challenge. We’re also continuing to hire great talent in to the King teams. We wish everybody taking part in TIGA GameHack the very best of luck”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
More details on each challenge can be found at: www.gamehack.co.uk
Prizes are available across these categories:
- Best Game, sponsored by ARM and PlayJam
Prize: £2,000 with an additional £3,000 to publish the game on GameStick
- Best ‘Endless Runner’ Game, sponsored by BlackBerry
Prize: Q10 or Z10 devices for each winning team member
- Most Awesome Game, sponsored by Centroid 3D
Prize: Half a day motion capture studio time with Centroid
- Most Innovative Idea, sponsored by TIGA
Prize:Keynote speaking opportunity at a TIGA GameDev Night and top story coverage in TIGA’s member network newsletter ‘The Eye’ to raise the profile of your game and your team.
- The Hacktacular Award sponsored by King
Prize: iPad mini for each winning team member at the Pinewood & Abertay events
- The Community Spirit Award
Prize: TBC
About TIGA
TIGA is the trade association representing the video game industry. We help developers and digital publishers build successful studios, network with the right people, save money and access professional business advice.
We also have outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. Since 2010, TIGA has won 16 business awards.
TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:
- Political representation
- Media representation
- Business services
This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.
It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.
Get in touch:
Tel: 0845 468 2330
Email: info@tiga.org
Web: www.tiga.org
Twitter: @TIGAMovement
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga
Dr. Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org
Drew Field, TIGA Communications Director on: 07720 643 344, or email: drew.field@tiga.org
About King
King is the world’s leading casual games company, with more than 1 billion gameplays per day globally. King offers 150 exclusive games in 14 languages through mobile, Facebook and the website www.king.com. The company has offices in Barcelona, Bucharest, London, Malta, Malmo, San Francisco and Stockholm. For more information, visit http://about.king.com. © 2013 King.com Ltd. All rights reserved. The King crown logo, is a trademark of King.com Ltd. All other designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
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 as well as holding full Skillset Media Academy status, recognition of the important industry skills that are developed on our courses.
About ARM
ARM designs the technology that is at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, video engines, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies.
About PlayJam
PlayJam was established with a core mission to bring affordable gaming to TV. The company operates a built-for-TV games platform that currently powers casual games on over 80 million Smart TV devices worldwide through partnerships with leading manufacturers including, Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic. To date the platform has delivered over 1 billion games via Pay and Smart TV networks in over 120 countries.
In January this year, PlayJam extended support for its platform to Android-enabled devices and announced the launch of its own hardware platform GameStick. At $79.99, GameStick – billed as the world’s most portable TV games console – offers families an affordable entry point to a world of games that can be played out on the home’s big screen.
PlayJam is backed by GameStop, Adobe, Endeavour Ventures, London Venture Partners and a number of game industry luminaries.
About Unity Technologies
Unity Technologies is the creator of Unity, a flexible and high-performance development platform used to make creative and intelligent interactive 3D and 2D experiences. The “author once, deploy everywhere” capability enables developers to deploy to all of the most important platforms.
Unity Technologies boasts a thriving community of 1.5 million developers including large publishers, indie studios, students and hobbyists. To remain at the forefront of innovation, Unity Technologies tirelessly re-invests in its award-winning 3D development tools and its democratization initiatives, such as the Asset Store digital marketplace and Union game distribution service.
Unity Technologies is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Singapore, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit: http://unity3d.com.
About Centroid 3D
Motion capture and character animation services to the film, television and video games industry, Centroid delivers motion capture and 3D pipeline solutions throughout Europe. With a team of thirty industry professionals, a comprehensive list of facilities and services from production pre visualisation to finished post production animation and a strict secure data environment, we deliver on time to the highest standards, quality and security.
About Pinewood Studios
The Pinewood Studios Group is a leading provider of studio and related services to the global film and television industry. Synonymous with world class British and international productions, the impressive heritage of its UK-based Pinewood and Shepperton Studios date back to the early 20th Century and are home to some of the most successful feature films and TV shows ever made.
Pinewood Studios has universally been associated with the film and television industry. However, the expansion of the Pinewood Group continues to increase with the use of its award winning post-production facilities into the Games Industry. The facilities offer internationally recognised foley recording and editing; custom sound design; localisation in over 40 languages; Oscar winning mixers; sound editorial and project management.
Recent video games that have used the Studios’ facilities include Fable: The Journey (Microsoft); Total War – Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai (Sega); Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft). Visit www.pinewoodgroup.com for more info.