Combining play with social change is something we have seen before. Games for Change is a social enterprise founded in 2004 with a mission statement of catalyzing social impact through digital games. It is located in New York and registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. They have created games surrounding issues such as poverty, environment, education, human rights, conflict, and health. Recent research indicates that people spend over 400 million hours playing games but impact games has yet to develop viable distribution channels to penetrate the market. Games for Change attempts to break into the market using social media and mobile devices.
There are games called Inside the Haiti Earthquake, America 2049, and Climate Challenge. Most recently, Games for Change has partnered up with journalist and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Nicholas Kristof, to work on social impact games for Half the Sky. Half the Sky is a book co-authored by Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn that highlights three major abuses on women: sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence including killings and mass rape, and maternal mortality which claims the life of a woman per minute. The games associated with this book will be available on Facebook alongside those distributed to millions of cell phones in India, Kenya, and Tanzania. The book’s purpose of catalyzing a movement will also be supported by a television series and video modules.
Games for Change also operates globally. In 2007 they established the South Korea chapter and worked with the government to sponsor games. Unique to the region is a game on the demilitarized zone of North and South Korea called Nanu Planet. The company currently has chapters in Europe and Latin America. They host an annual Games for Change Festival that brings together decision-makers in the public sector, game developers, and thought leaders in education and global development. Registration for the June 18-20, 2012 festival starts on February 13, 2012.
The feedback on the games are positive. Ellen DeGeneres featured their game WeTopia on her show, which can be played on Facebook and allows users to build virtual cities and spend a currency called Joy. “Instead of earning points, you earn Joy. How great is that? And then, you give Joy to real-world projects that actually help kids in need. It is the coolest thing.”
“I think gaming might be the next big platform for news organizations and causes. Some people think games are just ‘what teenagers do’ or that they are too fun to be worthy of our attention. But there are a lot of people who spend a lot of time playing games online, so we in the news business would do well to think about how we can use games to attract eyeballs,” told Nicholas Kristof in an interview with Fast Company.