The past year has been challenging. Between a pandemic that has highlighted inadequacies in our healthcare system, political unrest resulting from social injustice and racism, as well as financial hardships due to income inequality, companies and brands have had to think outside the box to find new ways to respond to unprecedented societal pressures.
With this harsh “new normal” as a backdrop, The Game Agency™ has entered a partnership with Games for Good™, a social purpose firm with a mission of using video games to drive awareness and lasting positive change in addressing the most critical issues facing society today.
Together we are creating a new marketing channel grounded in purpose that makes it possible to reach, engage and mobilize a youth audience worldwide.
Every corporation has at least one social cause that is true to its mission and they are looking for ways to engage their audience and create a connection. Millennials comprise the largest generation in their labor force and Generation Z is beginning to make its way in. Both generations are critical consumers as well. Millennials are the first technologically savvy generation and Generation Z are true digital natives, with most unable to even remember a time before the internet was around.
Last year global video game revenue surged by 20% making the industry larger than the movie and music industries combined. Three billion people identify themselves as gamers. The average person spends 6 hours per week gaming, while the most dedicated players reach almost 50!
With nearly 100 games reporting an install base with tens to hundreds of millions of players, Games for Good has set out to build a variety of mods that engage players and drive positive and meaningful change. All mods are funded by corporations who recognize the benefits of a three-way partnership between purpose-driven brands, leading NGOs tackling the most pressing social issues, and a community of gamers motivated to change the world.
Games for Good has developed two proof-of-concept mods using Grand Theft Auto. The first raises awareness of the need for legal equality of women in the Middle East and the second focuses on Russian disinformation and propaganda campaigns designed to cause civil unrest and undermine democracies worldwide.
There are many causes that can be addressed through game narrative including climate change, censorship, domestic abuse, economic exploitation, social inequality, and food and water shortages.
Games for Good is looking for a one-two punch; great games and real-world impact. GoodCoin™, a digital currency for charitable giving will be embedded into each game. Players will earn GoodCoins (via a unique corporate donor-advised fund model) and will be able to use them to make a donation to a charity of their choice from a “curated” list based on a database of 1.2 million nonprofit partners.
Gaming is a tool that has the potential to do more than just reach an audience. It can engage people in important conversations because it is a language we all speak. It is now more important than ever to create games for good. Through this paradigm shift, we see the opportunity to quite literally change the world and we believe that you will, too.
About The Game Agency
Since 2007, The Game Agency (TGA) has created games and simulations to engage players in over 100 countries and 20 languages. Our commercial and promotional games have been created in collaboration with world-class publishers such as Atari, Disney, Hasbro, SEGA, Sony, and Ubisoft, and global brands including Lexus, L’Oréal, McDonald’s, Unilever, and the U.S. Army.
