Games for Change (G4C)

G4C members include partners in the games industry, academia, non-profits, local and state governments, foundations, the United Nations and artists; some hail from countries outside the USA. According to G4C, videogames are increasingly ubiquitous. More than half of all Americans play them, and there is the potential for a new range of games to emerge that aim to impact on such diverse issues as economic poverty, health reform and racial inequities. Such games include the public diplomacy game Peacemaker, where Isreali and Palestinian youth play together, and Darfur is Dying, which provides a first-person role-play of life in the Darfur region of Sudan.

According to G4C, the social change sector is often slow to understand and adopt new technologies and there needs to be a concerted and informed effort to create a public space for this new media. Collective strategies will have tremendous long-term power to facilitate the development of games for the public good. G4C identifies their role as field builders to help develop and expand the field of using games for social change. To do this their activities include convening events, acting as focal point to the press, organising collaborative evaluation, building curriculum, standardising best practices, etc.

Games for Change holds an annual conference to bring together expert practitioners, academics, activists, and non-profits, to discuss the impact of current games for social change and the ongoing work of building the field. Members, The 2006 conference themed "Social Change and Digital Games" was developed to showcase the state of the art, evaluate outcomes and to grow the overall capacity of the sector.

The Listserv for the Nonprofit Games Community, is an email listserv for discussion, announcements, and more related to using games for social change. For members working with games throughout the USA and internationally, this medium functions as a way to share information and ideas.

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