Dare Academy
Terms & Conditions

DARE ACADEMY 2024 – Terms and Conditions

Dare Academy is a games design competition open to Abertay University students in teams of up to 8. It takes place over the summer recess at Abertay University in Dundee and offers industry mentoring, support and advice to teams to help them create an industry standard game prototype. Six teams will be selected to take part each year.

1. The closing date for applications set out on the Abertay University website is final, Friday 31st May 2024 by 23.59pm. Entries are made via the Dare Academy website via an online application. Entries received after this date and time will not be considered. 

2. Dare Academy (the “Competition”) is open to current undergraduate students studying at Abertay University only. 

3. Teams entering the Competition must not exceed 8 team members and must be a minimum of 2 team members. 

4. All team members must be enrolled on an Abertay University degree course as of 1st April 2024 to be eligible to apply. 

5. Applicants who have previously applied to the Dare Academy Competition can reapply if they were not selected as one of the successful 6 teams. This includes applicants who were successful in getting to the interview stage but who were then not selected to take part in the Competition. If you have previously been a finalist in Dare Academy, you will not be eligible to apply. 

6. A judging panel involving Abertay academic staff, industry and funding representatives will determine which 6 teams will be selected to take part in the Competition. The judges’ decision is final and not open to negotiation. Feedback will be provided to unsuccessful teams who were invited to interview. 

7. All works and ideas submitted as part of your Competition entry must be original and not infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any third party. By signing the application form you confirm that the work that you are entering into the Competition is your own and you own the rights to submit the game to the Competition. 

8. All team members who join the competition must have contributed to the development of the game and share in the intellectual property rights of their submitted game. Games developed by members other than registered team members are not allowed and Abertay University shall be entitled to refuse entry of any such games into the competition. 

9. Abertay University will have the on-going right to use images and video files from the games submitted by the 6 teams selected as finalists for university promotional purposes free of charge. By signing the application form, you grant Abertay University a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable licence, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in your competition entry and any accompanying materials, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format and sublicence the competition entry and any accompanying materials for university promotional purposes. Any such images and video files will be credited to your team name. 

10. All successful candidates must attend all events to the competition, such as workshops hosted by industry partners and the showcase unless in exceptional circumstances. Hot-housing commences on Monday 1st July and finishes on Friday 26^th July 2024. 

11. The winning team will be decided by a panel of industry judges at the final in October. Their decision is final, and no correspondence or discussions will be entered into with any unsuccessful teams. The winning team will be offered a prize for £5,000 cash to be distributed between the team members. Winners may also be entitled to packages provided by any sponsors that participate in the competition. If you are unable to take up this prize for whatever reason, no substitute or equivalent prize can be offered, and Abertay University accepts no responsibility or liability if you are unable to accept the prize. The winning team agree that they will participate in all publicity reasonably required in relation to the Competition and prize, and such publicity will be managed by the university or its contractor. 

12. All participants agree to be photographed and filmed to support publicity of the Competition throughout the duration of the Competition running. These can be distributed, where appropriate, on the website of Abertay University and their social media channels. 

13. All teams in the Competition will require to participate in marketing content requested by Abertay. This will include submitting images and video content. 

14. Each selected team who take part in the competition will be provided with £1,000 (per team) to support the costs of the game development. It is a requirement that receipts are kept as well as a list of each item of spend. A full reconciliation must be made to the organisers by November 1st 2024. 

15. You will own the rights to exploit and publish the subsequent game created. In return for the support from the Competition, the game will credit the Competition with the following wording or logo (to be provided by the university). ‘Supported by Dare Academy, powered by Abertay University’. 

16. If you are the winner of the Competition, you agree that Abertay University may use your name, image and town or county of residence to announce the winner of this Competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes. 

17. By entering the Competition, you acknowledge that any personal information provided by you with the Competition entry may be held and used only by Abertay University or its agents and suppliers to administer the Competition. 

18. Abertay University reserves the right to exclude any person or person(s), who brings the Competition into disrepute through their misconduct. To see examples of misconduct please refer to the student code of discipline. 

19. In the event of changes to the team after application, i.e. team members being replaced, added or withdrawn, you must seek approval from the Dare Academy staff team. 

20. Insofar as is permitted by law, Abertay University, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winners or accept any liability for any loss, damage, personal injury or death occurring as a result of taking up the prize except where it is caused by the negligence of Abertay University, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected. 

21. These terms and conditions are governed by Scots law and the Scottish courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes.