Around 40,000 people from across the globe took part in the world’s biggest ever Global Game Jam this weekend – including 250 people at Abertay University.
The 10th anniversary event saw game makers pack into the university’s Centre for Excellence and Whitespace areas for the Dundee leg of three-day festival.
Game jams involve coders, graphics artist and sound designers working together to devise and create new games in a short period of time.
The first Abertay Global Game Jam took place in 2009 and involved 1,650 participants in 23 countries.
This year’s event involved 40,000 people working in 805 sites across 109 countries.
The theme for this year’s games was “Transmission”.
Teams at Abertay produced a variety of entries, including a local radio DJ simulator and a game designed to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases.
Students from Abertay games courses were joined by academics, alumni and industry professionals for the event.
Dundee games studios Hyper Luminal and Pocket Sized Hands, both of which started at Abertay, sponsored the jam.
Dr Dayna Galloway, head of the games and arts division at Abertay, said: “Global Game Jam never fails to surprise and 2018 has been no different, with an incredible diversity of talent and creativity on show.
“It’s great to see the appetite for the event growing every year and I’m sure many of the games produced this weekend will sow the seed of something special, as has been the case in the past.”
Jo Summers, executive producer of Global Game Jam added: “Many of our sites are hosting hundreds of people, with our Cairo, Egypt, site holding the world record for largest physical game jam with an expected 1,800 people.
“Perhaps most exciting is the rise of specific sites; we have a board game-only site, a live action role playing-only site, VR-only sites, and a single Escape Room-only Jam Site.
“We are proud to be an inclusive event.”
Abertay is the leading university in Europe for computer games education and was the first in the world to offer degrees in the discipline, which has now outgrown the film industry in terms of revenue.
