August 2020, like every year in terms of games, was all about Gamescom. This particular year it took place from 27 to 30 August and was held purely virtually.
The creatables movement was there with a virtual booth at the Indie Arena Booth Online. The Indie Arena Booth Online alowed to experience trade show feeling in a colorful, inspiring and diverse way.
In a virtual world resembling a game, trade visitors could walk through the individual virtual booths with their own characters, mingle with bots and all other trade fair visitors, especially game developers, publishers, streamers, media representatives and anyone professionally involved in computer games.
Every year, the Indie Arena Booth is the world's largest contiguous booth of independent developers of computer and video games. The IAB has developed as a platform for the rich and colorful game culture, making it the perfect place for the creatables movement.
Creatables booth Gamescom, Indie Arena Booth 2020, Prof. Sebastian Stamm
The movement's sustainability concept was also top of mind at the interactive booth. There, visitors learned how the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals interact with games and what impact they, as protagonists of the games industry, can have on sustainable development of non-gaming companies with their knowledge and skills.
They were able to chat with NPCs (Non Player Characters) to learn more about the Creatables movement, the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and computer and video games that are already addressing sustainability. Visitors were also able to find out about Games BW funding, a grant from the Media and Film Society for games companies in Baden-Württemberg.
Games increasingly deal with the topic of sustainability. The spectrum of topics is wide and the implementations are diverse. The content of computer games ranges from species extinction, biodiversity, climate change and energy conservation to political topics such as flight and migration. A major focus is the topic of health and wellbeing.
On the one hand, there is the option to expand a game and integrate sustainable topics, as in "The Sims 4: Sustainable Living." Or the games are built around the theme of sustainability from the start. One example is the game "Eco", where the goal is to build a civilization together in harmony with nature.
Game developers are becoming increasingly aware of their social responsibility and are consciously programming games that encourage sustainable behavior. In doing so, they take advantage of the special motivating game mechanics and the great popularity of games in society. Almost every second German plays games across all age groups and educational backgrounds.
Dominik Rinnhofer, owner of PXNG.LI Studios and professor of game design at the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, says in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung that gaming offers the opportunity "to test utopian models for the future without immediately having to bear the consequences. Computer games have the potential to "change consciousness or raise awareness" about sustainability. Behavioral patterns learned from computer games could then also be called up in reality. Despite all these advantages, he does not ignore the problem that power-hungry computer games also consume resources.
Do you want to use a sustainability-themed game in your activities? Find a perfect match for your needs from among 100+ games and simulations. Narrow your search by filtering the games by the
UN Sustainable Development Goals or use the advanced search for more options.
This website lists game companies worldwide that develop sustainably or design content addressing sustainability.
Games are playing an increasingly important role in the healthcare sector, both in the training of medical staff and in the rehabilitation and treatment of diseases. Game design, VR and motivating game mechanics can help improve medical processes, increase resilience and effectively support patients.
At the Creatables Conference 2020 in Karlsruhe, Nils Dudenhöfer from the Heilbronn-based healthcare company Xenios AG reported on how his company, together with doctors, nurses and game developers, is using the Creatables method to develop a sustainable learning solution for extracorporeal ventilation of patients.
Sam Glassenberg of Level Ex and his company are revolutionizing medical practice with their video games.
Doctors learn by playing and train complicated operations in an artificial environment. Sam Glassenberg demonstrated at the creatables conference how doctors can over medical procedures on their cell phones. In 2020, German healthcare technology company Brainlab had acquired Level Ex to break new ground in medical technology.
Numerous games and applications provide users with information and training for a healthy lifestyle. Video games are used for the treatment of ADHD, Alzheimer's disease or for neurorehabilitation after strokes or even for logopedic training.
Playing for the Planet is a UNEP initiative launched by the Playing For the Planet Alliance to coincide with the 2019 Climate Summit at UN Headquarters. Playing For the Planet brings together the world's largest, most influential and environmentally progressive video game companies, collectively representing over 1 billion gamers worldwide.
Alliance members are reducing and offsetting corporate/gaming/legacy emissions, planting trees, restoring ecosystems, and reducing plastic. Projects include a Green Game Jam, best practice guides, a carbon footprint tool, and strategies to increase player awareness and renewable energy availability. Dr. Trista Patterson, who presented on the project at the Creatables conference, authored the Playing For the Planet Report.
