Singapore developers, here's your chance to make a game for Singapore's 50th birthday!

In view of Singapore’s upcoming fiftieth birthday as a nation, the Media Development Authority (MDA) of the country has put out a call for celebratory games. While select development studios in Singapore received the call to arms at the end of June, the MDA has now opened applications to everyone. The announcement was made at a game development and IP networking and dialogue session this evening in the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. Games for Singapore’s fiftieth year as a nation will come under the SG50 program, and need to observe several criteria. They will need to:

• Celebrate identity
• Foster ties
• Foster a strong sense of belonging
• Celebrate cultural heritage
• Celebrate cross cultural identity

On top of being fun and engaging. These values will make up 40 percent of the game’s proposal’s assessment, outweighing company credentials and player fun and engagement. The two latter values contribute to 30 percent each of the assessment. (See: Check out what happened at Singapore’s Maplestory Amazin9 birthday celebration! (PICS)) Games of any genre can be proposed, but the proposing company must have its Singapore Standard Industrial Code registered as “Games Media” before it can qualify. The incoming funding from MDA will be for original content, though repurposed (read: cloned) games may be considered if they push enough of the values listed above. It’s important to note that the MDA is only looking for professionally made games, and that these games must be free to download with minimal monetizaton. However, strong and unobtrusively monetized games can be submitted for consideration. The proposal submission for the SG50 games will end on July 31, 2014, while the assessment period will run from August 31 to September 15. Prototypes are expected to be completed by January 30, 2015, and the games must be launched before National Day on August 9, 2015. According to the MDA, intellectual property will belong to its creators, while license to market and monetize the game for commercial use will be granted after six months. More details can be found here. (Image source)

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