Games for Change Festival
The 22nd annual Festival for Games and Change is scheduled for June 26 and June 27 in New York, themed “Designing for Tomorrow.”
This event will be hosted at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, and the organization issued a call this week for speakers and awards submissions, open until February 5.
For more than twenty years, the G4C Festival has stood as the leading global gathering for uniting game developers, creators, educators, and social pioneers who are convinced of the potential of games and immersive media to instigate genuine change in the world.
The festival, under the theme “Designing for Tomorrow,” will investigate how games and immersive media can encourage collaboration among various generations, viewpoints, and sectors. Over the course of the two-day Festival, participants will engage in keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities focused on three main tracks: Games & Learning, Civics & Social Issues, and Health & Wellbeing. XR programming will be woven throughout all tracks.
This year, G4C will feature a master class series on June 25, during which industry leaders and game design specialists will facilitate comprehensive learning sessions. Attendees will have the chance to gain insights from prominent gaming professionals sharing their knowledge on subjects such as in-platform game development, the significance of play and design, and securing funding. These sessions are meticulously curated for the G4C community.
The Games for Change Awards ceremony, a fundamental aspect of the Festival scheduled for June 26, will acknowledge excellence in social impact games and immersive media. Categories will include Most Significant Impact, Best in Innovation, and Best Narrative, among others. This year, a fresh category, “Best Platform-Based Project,” will honor impactful games and immersive experiences developed within popular gaming platforms (such as Minecraft, Roblox, or Fortnite Creative) that utilize built-in tools and communities to achieve significant social impact.
“For 22 years, the Games for Change Festival has served as a venue for cross-sector innovation in games and immersive media,” stated Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change. “As our industry progresses, we’re evolving our programming to align with current needs. Our new Masterclass series and enhanced awards program reflect the advancement and enthusiasm within our sector. We’re excited to return to Parsons, where we can build upon this momentum and nurture the next wave of collaboration and innovation.”
Pollack recently served as the host at our GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games event in December and frequently speaks at events discussing the capacity of games to create positive social change beyond mere entertainment.
Speaker and Award submissions will remain open until February 5, 2025. For further details, visit festival.gamesforchange.org.
The previous 21st annual festival in New York revolved around “The 2030 Marker: A Catalyst for Global Change,” gathering over 150 speakers from 12 nations. The event attracted 2,300 attendees both in-person and virtually for 65 discussions and workshops. Beyond New York, our chapter festivals in Africa, Asia, India, Türkiye, and Latin America broadened its global influence, linking changemakers across different continents.
Furthermore, the group hosted the 2nd Annual Games & SDG Summit at the UN, which brought together 180 leaders to establish new partnerships and promote actionable solutions.
Games for Change also appointed new board members: Benjamin Golant: senior director for global game policy at Tencent Americas; Samir El Agili: chairman at Tilting Point; and Mark Stanley: founder of Strategic Gaming Collective, advisor for Playing for the Planet, and advocate for employing games to tackle global challenges.
Last year, Games for Change’s impact report indicated it had conducted 21 festivals, honored 86 G4C award recipients, established five global G4C chapters, organized 22 global chapter events, reached 58,000 students, and engaged 75% of students in Title I schools.
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