Oculus is challenging indie developers to come up with innovative, one-of-a-kind experiences that showcase what its virtual reality headset is capable of. The company has partnered up with IndieCade to announce VR Jam, a "long-format, worldwide game jam" that will reward devs with over $50,000 in prizes. The Oculus Rift has already been put to use in plenty of unique, immersive ways, but Oculus says it's only started tapping what's possible and the company wants help building experiences that will "define" next-generation virtual reality.

The VR Jam will be essentially be split into two competitions: one involves hand-picked developers, with the other open to all comers. Hopeful devs will have three weeks (August 2nd to August 25th) to create their project, and all entries will be judged on "innovation and virtual reality design." Games must be built specifically for the Oculus Rift using the company's associated SDK, and they must also be expressly developed for the VR Jam. Grand prize winners in both pools will take home a $10,000 cash prize and the opportunity to demo their respective game at IndieCade Festival 2013. As an added bonus, they'll get to visit Oculus HQ and meet with the team behind it all — something we did a few months ago.