The Bluebird Studios and Ann Arbor SPARK
Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026
April 19, 2026 - May 5, 2026
In-Person @ Ann Arbor, MI
Remote Online via Discord
Conference FAQs
Herein lies the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Page for
The Bluebird Studios and Ann Arbor SPARK
Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026.
About the FAQs:
All answers on this page are current as to the conference’s details and on whatever topics the questions cover.
The FAQs may change leading up to the event and even during the event at the discretion of the conference organizers.
If you have any further questions or need clarification on anything don’t hesitate to reach out to youngpau@umich.edu or paul@bluebirdstudios.org.
Frequently Asked Questions: Main Details
What is the Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026?
The Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026 is a statewide in-person and remote conference primarily for Michigan university/community college students/alumni with a 2.5 week-long low-stakes building competition to support students who want to pursue entrepreneurship in their race against time in a busy world.
Who is hosting the Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026?
Bluebird Studios, LLC (Michigan), Ann Arbor SPARK (the title sponsor), WCC Esports (Esports host), and AADL (Game Projects Showcase host)
are the main conference organizers.
The conference will have a physical ESports event sometime during April 19, 2026 - May 5, 2026 for 1-2 day(s). The date is still TBD.
This conference will have a physical showcase on May 5th, 2026 at AADL - Downtown in Ann Arbor, MI. The link is here.
This conference is remotely hosted by Bluebird Studios, via email and Discord, and may have some various mini in-person events at various location(s).
When is the Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026 event taking place?
This conference is taking place on April 19, 2026 until May 5, 2026.
This date this year was purposefully chosen so as to position students to pursue their projects and other entrepreneurial past-times in the long-term after the semester, as well as due to a number of circumstances.
Where is the Michigan Games Entrepreneurship Race 2026 event taking place?
This conference may be attended in-person and/or remotely.
As it is 2.5 weeks long, this event is primarily remote during the 2.5 weeks, so students may work at their own paces comfortably without having to travel much.
During the 2.5 weeks there will be optional remote skills and resource workshops, optional in-person mini-events (such as a pizza party to build), and more.
At the end of the 2.5 weeks, on May 5th, the end-of-event showcase will be in-person in Ann Arbor, MI.
This will take place in-person at AADL Downtown, and may be attended remotely online via Bluebird’s emails and Discord server.
Remotely the event will take place on Discord. Registrants will get an access link to the Discord before the event starts via email.
For current location updates please check out the Agenda linked here.
May I participate as a solo game-dev? What are the rules concerning teams?
Do I have to build a new game, project, or startup? Or can I continue building an already existing game, project, or startup?
The main focus of this event is to support Michigan game, project, and startup founders to continue building the projects that you’re passionate about.
Because of this, we designed this conference to be very flexible for whatever your situation may be.
Concerning development logistics, you may participate as a solo game, project, or startup developer.
Concerning development logistics, you may participate as a team of 2+ people for a game, project, or startup.
There is no maximum cap to a team’s size.
Regardless of your solo or team structure, you may build a new or continue an existing game, project, or startup.
This means you can start from scratch if it’s your first time or you have an idea you want to get going on.
This means you can continue building the class/hobby/startup game or project you’ve been trying to build for so long yet are still working on it,
instead of trying a random new project that isn’t relevant to your current goals.
What are all the prizes involved? What is this “team formation award” and who is it for?
What are all the resources, networking opportunities, and potential mentorship?
The main focus of this event is to support Michigan game, project, and startup founders to continue building the projects that you’re passionate about.
Because of this, we designed this conference to support Michigan developers wherever they’re at with our limited conference resources.
Concerning prizes, there is at least $6,500 in total prize money.
$5k of this is allocated for the “team formation award” for up to 20 teams.
Currently $1k of this is allocated for the end-of-conference showcase, to give to 1-3+ winning submissions. This prize money number might go up.
$500 of this is allocated for prizes at the Esports event WCC Esports will be hosting during this conference.
Concerning the team formation award, up to 20 teams which are 5+ people will receive $250/team if they meet our specific team structure,
which is designed to help with long-term games/projects/startups that will potentially continue what they’re building.
For this, a team must have: 1 Business Person, 1 Artist, 1 Audio Engineer, 1 Coder, and 1 Game Designer.
These designated roles are informal. So if say you have a startup of 5 people, yet it’s constructed with 3 devs and 2 business people, or 5 devs and no business people, then we’d say to have each person fit each of the 5 archetypes I’ve listed above to the best as you see fit.
This team structure is based on a team with diverse skillsets, so it can be equipped for long-term growth.
Concerning specific exceptional scenarios for the team formation award:
-If your team is bigger than 5 people, you are still eligible for this award if you are chosen for it.
-We can only award up to 20 teams, those that register for our event first will be prioritized for being chosen for this.
-If a team is say 10+ people, then we’d award that group with $500, yet would consider it as 2 teams for the event’s sake.
-If a team is say 15+ people, then we’d only award that group with $500, and consider it as 2 teams for the event’s sake.
This event is geared towards helping long-term newly-fledged games/projects/startups, not teams that are already established with a big size as much,
yet if your team is this size, you still are eligible for this team formation award, if you’re chosen.
Concerning resources, networking opportunities, and potential mentorship, our conference is designed to allow registrants to have as much flexibility as they want.
We understand many will be going through finals this year, and will only want to attend a small part of all the total events happening!
Because of this, all guest speaker events, workshops, the Esports tournament, and even the showcase itself are all optional.
To be considered for the showcase’s prizes, a submission must be made, yet a team does not need to be present to pitch it.
Of course, the main value at the showcase will be the networking that happens at it.
While we have $1k guaranteed allocated for prize money for the showcase event itself, there also will likely be many potential mentorship opportunities with entrepreneurial founders, university or college faculty, experienced alumni, and more.
Additionally, this event is right at the end of the winter/spring semester for many in Michigan this year.
Because of this, we expect some potential mentorship for games, projects, and startups that want to keep building throughout the summer.
Frequently Asked Questions: In-Person Experience
Where does the conference start?
All registrants will get official updates by email. Our main official kickoff email with all events details will be sent on April 19th, 2026.
Since the nature of this year’s conference is largely remote online over a few weeks, there likely will be no formal in-person kickoff.
There likely will be an optional in-person development session each week. We are still setting this up, and it might not happen.
Week 1: Location and date is still TBD.
Week 2: Location and date is still TBD.
Week 3: Location and date is still TBD.
Where is the main development building site?
Throughout the 2.5 weeks, there is no main development building site.
If registrants want to meet in-person in Ann Arbor, they may try to schedule a meeting with the Bluebird Studios team if desired.
Otherwise we encourage participants to build their projects from where is most comfortable for them, and if feasible, to show up at the May 5th showcase for their work.
Where will the workshops, guest speaker talks, etc. be?
The workshops and guest speaker talks will be mostly remote via Discord. Emails and Discord server announcements will confirm how to get to them.
Workshops may range from Discord group chats, to formal Google Meet/Zoom discussions, etc.
In-person the workshops will be generally hosted in Ann Arbor, MI.
While remote guest speakers’ events will be hosted officially remotely, if they also host an in-person way to attend their remote event, that also might be a way to access their remote events.
The conference’s only official physical location is in Ann Arbor, MI, and remotely via Bluebird Studios’ channels and approved sponsors’ channels (webpages, etc.).
Where will the end-of-event Showcase be on May 5, 2026?
The end-of-event showcase will be physically at the AADL Downtown branch in Ann Arbor, MI, details at this link: https://aadl.org/node/668704
This showcase may be attended remotely via Bluebird’s Discord server link(s), which will be sent out to all registrants via email.
What type of food and accommodations will be provided for in-person participants?
To be clear, food will only be available for in-person participants. We will aim to have food at every in-person event, and notify registrants if there is no food.
Registrants when they register have the option to list any dietary restrictions they may have.
We will do our reasonable best to provide dietary restrictions alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions: Remote Experience
Where does the conference start for remote attendees?
All registrants will get official updates by email. Our main official kickoff email with all events details will be sent on April 19th, 2026.
The nature of this year’s conference is largely remote online over a few weeks.
The official remote channels include: Bluebird Studios’ emails, any of our sponsors official links for this conference, etc.
The primary 2 channels online registrants will be in are Bluebird Studios’ email announcements, and Bluebird Studios’ Discord server for this conference.
Where do I go to join this conference’s Discord server?
We will frequently email the link to the Discord server to all official registrants. It will be hard to miss unless a registrant cannot see the email.
Can I still attend in-person workshops even if I only sign up as a remote participant?
Any official registrant—even if you said you’d only planned on attending remote events—may join any in-person events.
However, if you indicated you were only going to be remote for the entire event, we might not have food/physical amenities/etc. for you.
Even so, we’ll try to do our reasonable best to provide these for you, as we want to see you in-person.
Can I still attend the end-of-event Showcase on Tuesday May 5th, 2026 from 4pm-7pm as a remote participant?
Yes, remote participants are also encouraged to go to this and show projects, as it will be live streamed via Discord and should be a cool experience!
Remote participants will have access to game files (unless submitted projects do not have an online link/files/etc. that are accessible to those at the showcase) so they can play/see the work from other participants as they built games.
As a remote participant do I still get food and other in-person requisites at the event?
While remote participants who build a game prototype are eligible for the Showcase prizes, they do not get free food during the event.
Only Hybrid and In-person attendees will get free food/etc. as they attend in-person.
Frequently Asked Questions: Collaboration and Sponsorship
Where do I go to confirm interest in being a collaborator or sponsor?
The sponsor interest form is on this website. The Google Docs Sponsorship Packet with the most details about this is linked here.
Additionally, you can email Paul directly at youngpau@umich.edu if you have a request beyond the interest form.
What kinds of collaborators and sponsors are there?
A collaborator is a group that coordinated with Bluebird Studios to help get the word out about this event.
The sponsor tiers are student clubs (Bronze), ecosystem supporters (Silver), corporations (Gold), featured corporations (Platinum), universities/colleges/state organizations (Michigan Ecosystem, which umbrellas the student clubs logos in their university systems).
Frequently Asked Questions: Additional Details
Where do I go if I have any other questions about the conference?
You can email the conference director Paul at paul@bluebirdstudios.org with any questions you may have concerning this conference.
If you notice anything not working or not clear on the website please feel free to reach out to Paul so that is updated!
What is the long-term direction for this conference?
This is the second year Bluebird Studios and Ann Arbor SPARK are hosting a statewide engineering conference together.
We are pivoting away from a purely games-development conference to a games entrepreneurship building event.
If there are any questions about this long-term direction please make sure to contact Paul at paul@bluebirdstudios.org.
What other details should I as a potential participant know about this conference?
Only up to 20 teams comprised of 5 people (1 business person, 1 artist, 1 sound designer, 1 programmer, 1 game designer)
will receive the $250/team formation award at the beginning of the event.
This is not to make it unfair to contestants that are solo or in different team formations; rather, this is to encourage long-term entrepreneurial project potential for those in teams in a formation that is already proven by the Michigan ecosystem to an extent.
Stay tuned to hear what our other events are, potentially (not confirming yet) ranging from skills workshops to meetings with state leaders to Esports, and beyond!
What other details should I as a potential sponsor know about this conference?
We have top engineering talent in art, animation, audio, coding, design, engineering, and more at this event from all over Michigan.
While this conference is a bit smaller than what it will likely be in future years, we have talent registering from the U.P. in Michigan to the Michigan capital at Lansing to the metro Ann Arbor/Detroit area and more.
This first year is a good year to start meeting top engineering talent and participating in an exciting long-term ecosystem opportunity.
The Sponsorship Packet is linked here.