Only six out of 16 teams will be chosen by the panel of judges and those successful will be on their way to becoming future stars of the industry.

The judges who were in the city today include Stephen Donnelly of BBC Scotland Interactive, Adrian Curry of Microsoft Xbox, Ian Kiggin of Denki, Billy Thomson of RealTime Worlds, Morgan Petrie of Scottish Screen, Jenny Attala of the Scottish Arts Council, Mark Grossi of NCR, and Mark Ettle of Simian Industries. In total, 27 teams from across Scotland were asked to submit a concept for a new and original computer game or educational entertainment product. This year, students from Ireland have also come on board, with a team from DCU and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology.

The interview panel will be looking for the most creative ideas, which fulfil the greatest market potential.

Those who make it through will have to present a finished digital prototype and business sales document which can be pitched to investors.

The six teams will work in Dundee and have access to the cutting edge facilities at Abertay University, which runs the competition in partnership with Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Dundee City Council.

Competitors will be paid weekly and supported by experienced industry specialists, who will offer technical, creative and business advice.

In August, the winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Dundee, where teams will compete for a prize fund of £5000, as well as follow up support to develop their prototype to commercial reality.

There will also be a prize of £1000 for the best “team working” group.

Richard Leinfeller of Electronic Arts (EA), a company which snapped up members from last year’s winning team predicted competitors would have “a major impact on the games industry”.