Global Game Jam Announces New "Games for Change" Locations

[Ai Ling Loo]

On January 25-27 hundreds of game makers around the world will create games for social impact in a single weekend

New York - January 9, 2013 - Global Game Jam, Inc. (GGJ) today announced a new partnership with Games for Change (G4C), to celebrate G4C's 10th anniversary and allow GGJ13 participants from all over the world to visit sites that focus specifically on positive social impact. Jesse Schell, renowned game designer, author and Carnegie Mellon Professor will deliver a special video keynote to launch this unique effort on January 25th.

Through this partnership, GGJ site organizers will be offered the opportunity to register their site as a "G4C" site, and invite participants to create innovative digital games that go beyond entertainment. G4C has a purpose to raise awareness around real-world issues, promote learning, change behavior or recruit other players to support a cause.

With a record 275 sites already registered, the annual event has successfully enlisted new "G4C"-dedicated sites including the MIT Game Lab, the School of Visual Arts in New York, the Art Institute of Portland, George Mason University in Virginia, Bento Miso in Toronto, Canada, Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego in Warsaw, Poland and the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

While GGJ will have thousands of new games created, we are excited that dozens of new positive social impact games will come to realization by the end of the weekend. Even more exciting is that these games will be highlighted on the G4C website and hopefully at the upcoming festival.

"This idea stands at the core of our mission," said Games for Change Co-Presidents, Michelle Byrd and Asi Burak. "Imagine the impact of directing all of those creative energies over a period of 48 hours into making the world a better place using the power and engagement of games."

About Global Game Jam

The GGJ is the annual event of the Global Game Jam, Inc. GGJ brings together talented individuals and teams from around the globe and rallies them around a central theme, for which they have 48 hours to create their game. Collaboration, Experimentation & Innovation. For more information on the Global Game Jam, including a database of downloadable games, photos and video from previous events and more, visit http://globalgamejam.org. Twitter: #ggj13