A new social purpose firm, Games for Good, to launch with the mission of helping organisations engage with gamers to drive meaningful change of the world’s most pressing issues.Known as “game mods”, a team can create a secondary market related to the most successful games, which have already established franchises and fan bases. The game mechanics remain the same and new angles stay aligned with the core story and approach, while important topics, such as equality, climate change, anti-human trafficking or how to counter disinformation are introduced along with real-world outcomes.
“Many organisations, companies, and even national governments are struggling to connect with youth worldwide in ways that are acceptable, informative and most useful to the individual.The answer is to go where everyone already is, which is gaming, an industry that generates more revenue than film and music combined, and more than all global live sports (including the NFL, MLB, FIFA, etc.). More importantly games have now become a primary cultural influence on how we play, innovate, and learn,” said Global Game Jam, a non-profit which produces the world’s largest game jam event (game creation) executive director Kate Edwards.
ChangeX, a social purpose firm within The Next Practices Group, LLC (The Next Practice), led by John McNeel, has teamed up with experts from the gaming industry and thought leaders from the public and private sector to create Games for Good , a new game modification platform that will enable companies and countries to discuss or share important societal topics within a leading video game.
Games for Good is centered on the belief that educating the next generation on societal topics is far more likely to occur in a setting that is normal and mainstream for the participant. With nearly three billion people gaming in platforms that enable email, video sharing, ecommerce and more, our world is experiencing a tectonic shift in how we communicate, consume content, learn and develop habits, memories and establishing a belief set that will be with us forever – all within a platform that we are comfortable to remain in for hours at a time.
The team believes the next big thing will be to transform gaming, when appropriate, into a “Platform of Purpose” in partnership with corporations, NGOs, publishers and countries.
“It is such an opportune time to launch Games for Good. We work with so many people, hungry to find ways for their brands and offerings to have a real sense of purpose and meaning. There is tremendous excitement about reimagining the power of gaming to engage nearly three billion gamers, around the world, in positive change,” said advisory board member Bobby Jones, co-author of Good is the New Cool and partner in brand purpose consultancy, Conspiracy of Love.
Games for Good includes a partnership with The Game Agency, a creator of games for the private sector; a partnership with leading human rights author and expert, Matthew Daniels; and an advisory board that includes experts, ranging from Dr. Victoria Romero, Chief Behavioral Scientist (Technical Missions Systems), CACI; award winning author and human rights activist Michealene Cristini Risley, Chief Creative and Licensing Officer, AMMA; Richard Myers, President, Kansas State University (retired four-star general in the U.S. Air Force and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff); John Belluomini, founder of the Center for Greater Good and Chairman of Peak Bank; Kip Knight, Founder of CMO Coaches and Operating Partner, Thomvest Ventures; Wim Stocks, Chairman at Collegiate StarLeague and WorldGaming Network, a division of Play Fly Sports and Wenda Harris Millard, vice chairman of MediaLink. John McNeel is serving as CEO of Games for Good, which will operate within ChangeX.