In news I wasn’t expecting to cover on this random Wednesday morning, the United Nations, yes that United Nations have announced they will be hosting a full-on video game event as part of the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Games for Change Festival.
The event will be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York and will run from the 17th to the 21st of July. The event itself isn’t new and it’s hosted annually by the wildly influential Games For Change non-profit. However, this is the first time that the UN has played host to this kind of summit or been involved with gaming in any regard.
Over the years, Games For Change has made it its mission to try and make the world a better and more inclusive place through games.
“This is our 20th anniversary for Games for Change. And to celebrate, we have expanded our programming to touch on different ways to connect with and celebrate the different audiences that we serve.” – Susanna Pollack president of Games for Change
The event will be hosted with the full support of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme and those in attendance will be able to have a front-row seat to the Games for Change Next Gen Fest, an event aimed at young students between the ages of 13 and 18 which aims to help connect them to leading industry professions and as well as allow them to take part in various workshops to help develop both design and coding skills.
Over the years Games for Change has been involved with various initiatives and projects to help encourage real-world changes and to foster collaboration between content creators, industry, and cause-based organizations. So it makes sense that they would partner up with the United Nations, even if it is surprising.