The 22nd Annual Change Games Festival will take place on June 26 and 27 in New York under the theme “Designing for Tomorrow”.
The event will take place at the Parsons School of Design in New York and the group spent this week for speakers and awards until February 5.
For more than two decades, the G4C festival has been the world’s leading event to bring together game developers, creators, educators and social innovators who have believed in the power of immersive games and media to stimulate real change.
Under the theme “Designing for Tomorrow”, the festival will explore how immersive games and the media can promote collaboration through generations, perspectives and sectors. During the two-day festival, participants will engage in Keynotes, panels, workshops and networking opportunities centered on three main pieces: games and learning, civic and social problems, and health and well-being. The XR programming will be integrated on all tracks.
New this year, G4C will organize a series of master’s classical class on June 25, where industry leaders and game design experts will direct in -depth learning sessions. Participants will have the opportunity to learn high-level game professionals while they share their expertise on subjects such as platform game development, the power of the game and the design, and the obtaining funding. These are carefully organized sessions adapted to the G4C community.
The Change Games Prize ceremony for change on June 26, a cornerstone of the festival will celebrate excellence in social impact games and immersive media. Categories include the most important impact, the best of innovation and the best story, among others. This year, the award ceremony presents a new category, the “best project based on the platform”, recognizing impacting games and immersive experiences created in established play platforms (such as Minecraft, Roblox or Fortnite Creative ) which exploit integrated tools and communities to conduct a significant social impact.
“For 22 years, the Festival des Games for Change has been a meeting field for transversal innovation in immersive games and media,” said Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change, in a statement. “While our industry continues to evolve, we expand our programming to meet the moment. Our new MasterClass series and our improved reward program reflect the growth and excitement of our sector. We are delighted to return to Parsons, where we can take advantage of this momentum and promote the next wave of collaboration and innovation. »»
Pollack was the master of ceremonies of our recent series of Gamesbeat initiates: Hollywood and Games in December, and she is a frequent speaker during events on the way games can perform so much social good beyond entertainment.
Submissions of speakers and prices are open until February 5, 2025. For more information, visit Festival.gamesforchange.org.
The 21st previous annual festival in New York explored “The 2030 Marker: A Catalyst for Global Change”, bringing together more than 150 speakers from 12 countries. The event has united 2,300 participants in person and virtual for 65 conferences and workshops. Beyond New York, our chapter festivals in Africa, Asia, India, Türkiye and Latin America have widened its world impact, connecting Changemakers through the continents.
The group also welcomed the 2nd annual Games & SDG summit at the UN, bringing together 180 managers to forge new partnerships and conduct usable solutions.
Games for Change has also added new members of the Board of Directors: Benjamin Golant: Senior Director of World Game Policy at Tencent Americas; Samir El Agili: President at Tilting Point; And Mark Stanley: founder of the collective strategic gaming, advisor to play for the planet and defend the use of games to meet global challenges.
Last year, the Games for Change Impact report said that it had 21 festivals, 86 G4C prize winners, five G4C world chapters, 22 world chapter events, 58,000 students reached and 75% students in title I schools.
