Harnessing the Power of Video Games for Cultural and Social Impact

(3 Credits)

Can video games improve lives and change the world? The $200 billion video game industry is larger than the film and music business with 3 billion gamers generating billions of ‘lean-forward’ hours of engagement every week. The medium has unique potential to foster cultural and social impact because video games are interactive and participatory. Games enable players to step into diverse roles, confront challenges, make choices, get feedback, and fail safely. They give players agency – the ability to make a difference in the game and ‘real’ world. Students will play and analyze games that have cultural and social impact goals, meet with local gaming studios and organizations, and research and develop a proposed Emirati culture game highlighting Emirati National Identity Values. Specific case studies such as the BAFTA-winning Never Alone will be reviewed; topics covered will range from aligning core game mechanics with cultural objectives to understanding the business and market dynamics for funding, developing, and releasing social impact games. Students will present their pitch for an Emirati culture game before a board of cultural and industry experts.