By Susanna Pollack
According to the Entertainment Software Association, 155 million Americans play video games – but for some, it goes beyond simple fun. Susanna Pollack, President of Games for Change, talks about how games are being used as a tool for social good.
Globally, we spend 3 billion hours gaming each week, according to game designer and author Jane McGonigal. Despite the fact that the global games industry has overtaken the film industry in terms of revenue growth, it is often seen as a negative force within mainstream culture. However, within gaming communities, there is an increasing momentum building around the potential of gaming as a positive force, and it is this potential that sparked our collective imaginations.
At Games for Change, we believe in the power that games can have beyond entertainment. Just as films and documentaries are mediums to explore social issues (think Argo, Supersize Me and anything Participant Media produces), games as a popular form of entertainment can do the same thing. In fact, games offer a unique approach to engaging audiences that other linear forms of entertainment don’t have. Games are interactive and can provide players a sense of control to affect the outcomes of the experience they are having. Coupled with a socially relevant story and imaginative game mechanics, this medium creates a perfect storm of engagement and meaning.
Photos: Jane Kratochvil/Games for Change
The Games for Change Festival (June 23-24 in New York City) celebrates those game makers and game-related projects that offer groundbreaking experiences for players across a wide variety of subjects. We are examining three different areas that games are playing an active role: Games for Learning, Neurogaming & Health, and Civics & Social Issues. Each of these tracks feature innovators in the games and tech sector.
For example, in the Games for Learning Summit, Graeme Devine, the Chief Game Wizard at secretive mixed-reality startup Magic Leap, will examine the potential of mixed reality in education, and Microsoft Education lead Deirdre Quarnstrom will share the latest developments of the use of the ever-popular game Minecraft in the classroom.
In the Civics & Social Issues track, Anna Maria Chávez will discuss how the Girls Scouts of America are developing young girls’ STEM skills through games. The Festival is also showcasing how games are bridging borders around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to create awareness and empathy around the Syrian Refugee Crisis.
Neurogaming and health games are one of the fastest-growing segments of the games for change community. At the event, we will feature Deutsche Telekom, who recently funded the wildly successful Sea Hero Quest – the world’s first mobile game where anyone can help scientists to fight dementia. Chief Science Advisor at Akili Interactive Labs, Dr. Adam Gazzaley will also share his quest for submitting the first game approved by the FDA to treat ADHD.
While we’ve chosen these three areas – games for learning, civics, and health – to spotlight at the Festival, the transformative work from our community expands even beyond these themes, with mold-breaking and transformative projects.
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