Grameenphone and White-Board in association with ICT Division have launched Game Jam, a platform that will crowdsource, develop, and launch the next big mobile game for Bangladesh, by Bangladesh, and in Bangladesh.
The Call for Applications for the competition began on March 23, 2017. 25 game development teams are going to participate in a meticulously planned 48-hour session or ‘Jam’, competing against each other on tasks assigned to them, and ultimately striving to be amongst the top 3 winners who will be receiving comprehensive support from Grameenphone to reach people with their games on a global scale.
The games are expected to feature great visuals and effects, interesting mechanics and a memorable journey, and should have the scope to play with in-app purchases. To register for Game Jam interested game developers have to visit http://www.white-board.co/.
A preparatory Boot Camp will be held on April 22 with the 25 selected teams before the Jam. The 48-hour Jam will then be held on April 28 and April 29, and after rigorous tests in a highly competitive environment, the 3 teams will emerge victorious as selected by an expert panel of judges.
The 3 games will be made market-ready by July 2017 and will be launched exclusively through Grameenphone. The support that the winners will receive includes:
(i) funding and expert support for making the games market-ready and reaching target customers globally; (ii) inclusion of the games among Grameenphone’s rich array of digital products; (iii) and exposure through Telenor’s global connections.
The Honorable State Minister of the ICT Division, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and IT, Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, enthusiastically said “We want the youth to grab the opportunities available in the gaming industry that is worth 100 billion. This is why Grameenphone and the ICT Division are jointly organizing the Game Jam 2017. We hope the young game developers of our country will contribute to the fulfillment of the dream of our Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to make Bangladesh a digital country, through their participation in this event.”
The ICT Division will provide appropriate resources to garner and mentor the applicants to build their game. Other partners of this initiative are Mlab for Strategic alliance; Samsung for Resource support; Opera as an Industry Partner; WowBox for Digital support; and Appnometry for Community engagement.
Excited at the prospect of discovering talented game developers from Bangladesh, Yasir Azman, Chief Marketing Officer of Grameenphone, said, “Bangladesh has a large and highly talented tech-savvy demography that is waiting for an appropriate platform.”
He also said, “Being the leading digital services provider in Bangladesh, Grameenphone has been sourcing out the best talents in the country through its Digital Enabler platforms. We have now set our sights on the untapped gaming sector, and through Game Jam, the latest digital enabler platform from us will allow the game developers to come forward and create innovating games, thus helping to steadily develop the gaming industry of Bangladesh. Thus, it will be another step forward for Grameenphone to fulfill our dream of digitally empowering communities.”
Mr. Muyeedur Rahman, Head of Mobile, Samsung Electronics Bangladesh said, “At Samsung, we are always on the look for opportunities to bring superior technological innovations and enhance customer delight. Keeping this mind we have partnered with Grameenphone to be the resource partner for ‘The Game Jam 2017. We are delighted to be associated with this competition that promotes technological innovation and we believe through this initiative, we will go a step forward into game developing in Bangladesh.”
The deadline for submitting applications for participating in Game Jam is April 13, 2017.
