State of Survival publisher collaborates with Games for Change to empower students in the US to design social impact games focused on climate change, peace, and positive play.
FunPlus, one of the largest independent mobile game developers and publishers in the world today announced a new collaboration for the G4C Student Challenge, a national game design program and competition in the US that bridges students’ passion for video games with civic engagement and digital storytelling. Games for Change (“G4C”) is a 19-year-old nonprofit that empowers game creators and innovators to drive real-world change.
The Character Design Award builds on FunPlus’ successful collaboration with Creative Art Works (“CAW”), a 36-year-old nonprofit that empowers underserved New York City teens and young adults through visual and multimedia arts. Since 2020, FunPlus has sponsored a Character Design apprenticeship with CAW and the G4C collaboration builds upon this commitment to accompany the next generation of artists and potential future video game talent.
“We’re excited to keep building on our commitment to younger generations and contributing our own in-house expertise to the Games for Change Student Challenge” said Chris Petrovic, Chief Business Officer at FunPlus. “Our teams are passionate about investing in the younger generations and this award provides another opportunity for us to make a concrete impact.”
As part of the Character Design Award competition, students will be challenged to design a game character with the support of G4C and character design industry experts from FunPlus. Starting in early 2023, FunPlus artists and creatives from across the globe will contribute to educators’ professional development, providing masterclasses for participating students and judging the proposals received.
“For 8 years, the Games for Change Student Challenge has connected students’ passion for games with awareness and action around social issues. The FunPlus Character Design Award is an exciting addition to the program that will challenge students to level up their game design skills, ” said G4C Managing Director and Chief Learning Officer, Arana Shapiro. “There are so many components to creating a video game, and we want to allow students to explore more ways to get involved in the industry, whether they’re game designers, artists, or anything in between.”
