News: Win Part of $225,000 Making a Mixed Reality Game with the Return of Dream.Build.Play

Microsoft is bringing its developer incentive challenge Dream.Build.Play. After a five-year hiatus, Microsoft has announced the 2017 edition of the game development contest with the largest prize pool yet of $225,000.

What was once an annual contest that started back in 2007, and brought along with it many game releases including memorable entries like Dust: The Elysian Trail, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, and One Finger Death Punch, ended back in 2012.

The reinstated form of the Dream.Build.Play incentivizes developers to flex their creative muscles and possibly profit from it. The challenge brings with it four different verticals for developers to work with. Each vertical will be judged on its own criteria with special considerations. These verticals' potential prizes and considerations are:

• Mixed reality: $50,000: Develop a game for the Window Mixed Reality ecosystem. Incorporating audio will give you preference.
• Cloud-powered game: $100,000: Use Azure Cloud Services as the backend to your game. Using the services in multiple and unique ways will give you an edge.
• PC game: $50,000: This can be anything, but using Cortana and Inking will put the judges in your corner.
• Console game: $25,000: Create a UWP app for the Xbox One. Using services like the Xbox Live Leaderboards will go a long way to helping you come out ahead.

Registration for the contest began on June 27, 2017, with Team formation and game entries beginning on Aug. 2, 2017. All entries must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2017, for the Jan. 2, 2018, judging to begin. And finally, on March 20, 2018, the winner will be announced.

Do you have an idea that you think would make a great game? Pull out Unity and get going and let us know in the comments below.

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