Games for Change
The Culture for Impact List is an annual recognition by the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live to celebrate cultural initiatives that unleash the power of popular culture to address major societal challenges and inspire positive change.
One of the 2024 Culture for Impact initiatives is Games for Change - a nonprofit that empowers game creators and social innovators to catalyze impact through video games & extended reality (XR).
Worldwide there are nearly 3.2 billion people playing video or board games on a regular basis, and evidence shows that games can be a platform for great social impact. We are excited to learn more, and UN Live’s Lead Curator, Annesofie Norn, has had the pleasure of interviewing Games for Change’s President, Susanna Pollack, about being featured on the 2024 Culture for Impact List and about the power of games.
UN Live: To begin with, what do you believe is the power of popular culture to change hearts and minds?
Susanna Pollack: Popular culture, particularly gaming, can reach and engage people in innovative ways, helping people develop empathy and understanding for a wide range of issues. With nearly 3.2 billion gamers worldwide, games have become the largest form of entertainment - surpassing the combined revenue of the film, television, and music industries. Games create immersive spaces where people can explore complex problems, understand new perspectives, and collaborate with others across boundaries. Through hands-on experiences, games and immersive media engage people in deep, meaningful ways that can shift beliefs and behaviours in ways other media cannot. Combining the universal appeal of play with purpose can create opportunities for authentic connection and transformation globally.
UN Live: What drew you towards using games as a platform to spark positive change?
Susanna Pollack: When Games for Change started over twenty years ago, our founders recognised that games had the potential to be more than just entertainment—they could be powerful tools for social impact. Games encourage experimentation, allow for failure in safe spaces, can adapt to different players and ability levels, and so much more. Unlike other media, games and immersive media actively engage people in decision-making and problem-solving, making the learning experience more personal and lasting.
We’ve been continually inspired by how games and immersive media bring people together to tackle pressing global issues. The industry's massive reach, combined with these mediums' interactive nature, makes them ideal platforms for driving meaningful social change.
UN Live: Through your initiatives and programmes, Games for Change is taking the lead in fostering communities of practice for people of all ages to collaboratively design the future of gaming. Can you talk us through the impact your initiative has had so far?
Susanna Pollack: Games for Change works across sectors, ages, and industries with a wide-reaching impact. Games for Change programmes have reached over 58,000 students (75% from Title 1 schools) and 1,200 educators worldwide. Our annual G4C Festival, now in its 21st year, is the largest gathering focused on social impact gaming, bringing together thousands of creators, developers, and changemakers from over 120 countries. We've established Games for Change chapters across five continents, catalysing local innovation while fostering global connections. Through partnerships with cross-sector organisations like UN institutions, game studios, tech companies, and educators, we've helped elevate the use of games for social good.
UN Live: Can you share an example of when you experienced that your initiative made a real impact for someone?
Susanna Pollack: One powerful example comes from our second Games & SDG Summit, which we held this past October. The Summit brought together 180 cross-sector leaders to explore how games and immersive media can advance key Sustainable Development Goals through sessions and workshops related to hunger, health and wellbeing, reduced inequalities, child rights, and more. It was so inspiring to see these communities from the games industry, UN agencies, global NGOs, and others collaborating to develop concrete strategies for social impact through games and immersive media.
As Paul Skoczylas, Director for Partnerships, WFP (UN World Food Programme) New York, said "Games for Change has been instrumental in helping the World Food Programme to re-connect to leaders in the gaming community. At the SDG Summit, we made many connections and learned about the work of many organisations to leverage gaming to help achieve the SDGs. We see incredible opportunities ahead for collaborative and impactful action on SDG2 and achieving a Zero Hunger world."
UN Live: What are you hoping that others can learn from your initiative, and what is your dream for the future of the initiative?
Susanna Pollack: We want others to recognise that games and immersive media can drive real-world change beyond entertainment. As games are a universal platform for engagement, there is a tremendous opportunity to reach players about critical issues that affect our world. We dream of expanding our global reach while deepening cross-sector collaboration to drive progress.
We envision a future where games and immersive media are universally recognised as tools for impact—where the gaming industry fully embraces its potential to drive meaningful change, where young people develop 21st-century skills like problem-solving, systems thinking, and digital literacy through game design, and where the impact community sees games as an essential component of their strategy for fulfilling their missions. We’re working toward a world where games consistently bridge entertainment and impact, fostering empathy, understanding, and collective action on global challenges.
At the centre of UN Live’s work and thinking is the importance of building empathy and global belonging for a positive future for all, where popular culture is an important building block. How would you say that your initiative is building on that?
Susanna Pollack: Empathy and belonging are key parts of why games are so powerful. They allow players to step into different perspectives and experiences they wouldn’t have otherwise. Our international chapters and programs show how this medium transcends cultural and linguistic barriers to foster meaningful connection and understanding.
Our work brings together diverse communities - from students and educators to developers in emerging markets to create a truly global network of changemakers. By supporting games and immersive media that tackle challenges while celebrating local stories and voices, we can help build bridges of understanding and shared purpose across borders.
UN Live: What does it mean to you and Games for Change to get on highlighted on the 2024 Culture for Impact List?
Susanna Pollack: To be recognized on a world stage through UN Live is such a validation of the work that Games for Change has been advocating for for over 20 years. Video games are a meaningful part of our mainstream culture and we hope that this recognition draws more attention and interest in leveraging games to make the world a better place.
At its simplest, what is your message for the world?
If you can design a better game, you can design a better world.
A huge thank you to Games for Change for sharing their story with us. UN Live are very excited to follow their journey and continued work to bring about positive change through games. Explore more about their work on their website.
The selection criteria for the Culture for Impact list
The selection criteria prioritize innovative cultural initiatives addressing societal challenges and fostering change:
Culture Innovation: Initiatives that demonstrate a pioneering or significant application of popular culture to address societal challenges or promote positive change.
Genre Diversity: Inclusivity across a spectrum of cultural genres, showcasing a diverse range of creative expressions and innovative approaches.
Topic Versatility: Recognition of initiatives that address a wide array of topics and issues, demonstrating the versatility and adaptability of cultural genres.
Global Inclusivity: Emphasis on initiatives that contribute to cultural impact on a global scale, promoting inclusivity and representation from various regions around the world.
Dual Impact Approach: Acknowledgment of initiatives that have achieved significant reach while also recognizing the nuanced impact of smaller-scale efforts that contribute profoundly to cultural change.