The gaming industry is becoming increasingly involved in socio-political issues and while some players may not like this, it is reflective of the size of gaming companies. Most global brands attempt to contribute to good causes, and video game companies have donated to charities that have addressed the coronavirus pandemic, bush fire relief, and many more this year. Several mobile game creators are now attempting to educate through titles and raise awareness about the impact of global warming.
Mobile gaming is a growing industry and the current lawsuits between Apple and Epic Games exemplify the audience and money in this subsection of gaming. The creators of Angry Birds 2, Golf Clash, Subway Surfers, and Transformers: Earth Wars as well as others are now teaming up with the United Nations Environment Programme to cause a positive impact. These developers have collaborated to discuss how they can educate players with facts about how global warming impacts the world and it seems that these messages could reach a huge audience.
John Earner, boss of Space Ape who develop Transformers: Earth Wars, detailed the scale of mobile gaming "There's something like three billion people with mobile phones and half of them are gamers." With this in mind, it seems that the mission to inform players could be successful as there is an audience that may pay attention. The developers have noted that information about the current state of the world may not be enough, but approaching these topics is a start. While many titles are beginning to address global warming, this mobile developer collaboration will bring notable changes to a large audience.
Between the companies involved, there is an audience of 250 million players and they will notice new game modes, events, and stories that are designed to raise awareness. While information is only the start of tangible action, these games are at least starting an ongoing conversation about how media can help inform consumers about the world and the immediate dangers it faces. The only issue this information may face is being disregarded like a mobile ad, but it does seem that the developers will aim to integrate the content with existing games.
Games like Angry Birds 2 have been a huge success and the information that is added to the game will likely reach a significant audience. It seems that titles that have established huge platforms are now using it to voice causes that impact the world.
Source: BBC