The development of digital technology has
opened up new arenas for gaming, resulting in a spectacular growth of digital games and the devices on which they are played. The digital games industry was worth
$42 billion in 2010, and is growing at an annual rate of 10%. Playing
online games is now the third largest internet-based activity after search and
socializing and more than 500 million people play online games for at least an
hour a day. Digital games are diverse and appeal to a wide
demographic, defying the stereotype that they involve strong violence and are
played by adolescent males. Of the twenty bestselling digital games of
all time, only Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
involves the depiction of real-world violence, and several, such as Brain Age and Wii Sports include no violence at
all. In the United States the average gamer is 30 years old, 47% of gamers are
female, and 49% of all households own a games console.
A growing trend in the gaming industry has been the emergence of ‘serious games’ that make a contribution to addressing real world problems. Serious games can be defined as “any piece of software that merges a non-entertaining purpose (serious) with a video game structure (game).” A number of organisations like Games for Change and the Serious Games Institute have been established with the aim of promoting the use of games as a means to address real world challenges. Games have been designed for training, education, learning and behaviour change in a range of sectors, especially medicine and brain function.
Games with a biodiversity component are rare but increasing in popularity and fall into two distinct groups:
1) Games made by commercial companies that may have no interest in conservation other than as an opportunity to make profit
2) Games made by, or in partnership with, conservation organisations that are designed to have a positive impact on biodiversity conservation
This second group comprises the 'serious games', those that attempt to address the global problem of biodiversity loss through a gaming platform and it is within this group that our own game will feature.
One of the key challenges for 'conservation games' is deciding HOW your game will have a positive impact for biodiversity. Discussions held at a workshop on Games for Nature identified three possible mechanisms by which games could play a role in conservation:
1) Education and behaviour change
2) Fund raising
3) Promoting research
Each has the potential to reach different target audiences and carries with it particular strengths and weaknesses.
Education and Behaviour Change:
Games that aim to have a positive effect on biodiversity conservation by changing users knowledge levels and potentially attitudes can reach a wide audience of people who have both an established interest in the environment and those who do not. The games may wish to discourage negative behaviours or promote sustainable ones but the strength of the causal link between simply acquiring knowledge through to changing behaviours is debated and reliant on many other factors including an individual’s perceptions of social norms (social networking may have a role here) and their perceived capacity to carry out the desired behaviour.
Fund raising:
Many apps have been extremely successful at generating revenue either through a direct cost of the app itself, through advertising, or by offering attractive in game purchase options. These costs are typically small however the large user-base means that substantial sums can be generated. The acquired funds could then utilised by the associated conservation organisation(s) in their day to day work. There are potential weaknesses to the fund raising mechanism including the cost of building a game of sufficient quality and desirability that people are prepared to pay for it up front or so become so keen to keep playing that they are willing to pay to do so. Conservation organisations may have little to no control over the adverts that appear alongside their game and once a conservation cause has been monetised there is a risk that users become critical of how "their" money is spent if it does not meet their expectations.
Promoting research and monitoring:
Games can be used to target either skilled individuals or untrained citizen scientists who use the game as a mechanism to supply data to the organisation behind the game. The games can create strong incentives for participation and submitting data and, provided the game proves successful, can reach a very large number of people, saving money compared to standard research. Making large numbers of people aware of a reporting tool / game can be a challenge and then overseeing the smooth delivery of data can require dedicated staff members as is the case for the RSPBs Big Garden Birdwatch.
A growing trend in the gaming industry has been the emergence of ‘serious games’ that make a contribution to addressing real world problems. Serious games can be defined as “any piece of software that merges a non-entertaining purpose (serious) with a video game structure (game).” A number of organisations like Games for Change and the Serious Games Institute have been established with the aim of promoting the use of games as a means to address real world challenges. Games have been designed for training, education, learning and behaviour change in a range of sectors, especially medicine and brain function.
Games with a biodiversity component are rare but increasing in popularity and fall into two distinct groups:
1) Games made by commercial companies that may have no interest in conservation other than as an opportunity to make profit
2) Games made by, or in partnership with, conservation organisations that are designed to have a positive impact on biodiversity conservation
This second group comprises the 'serious games', those that attempt to address the global problem of biodiversity loss through a gaming platform and it is within this group that our own game will feature.
One of the key challenges for 'conservation games' is deciding HOW your game will have a positive impact for biodiversity. Discussions held at a workshop on Games for Nature identified three possible mechanisms by which games could play a role in conservation:
1) Education and behaviour change
2) Fund raising
3) Promoting research
Each has the potential to reach different target audiences and carries with it particular strengths and weaknesses.
Education and Behaviour Change:
Games that aim to have a positive effect on biodiversity conservation by changing users knowledge levels and potentially attitudes can reach a wide audience of people who have both an established interest in the environment and those who do not. The games may wish to discourage negative behaviours or promote sustainable ones but the strength of the causal link between simply acquiring knowledge through to changing behaviours is debated and reliant on many other factors including an individual’s perceptions of social norms (social networking may have a role here) and their perceived capacity to carry out the desired behaviour.
Fund raising:
Many apps have been extremely successful at generating revenue either through a direct cost of the app itself, through advertising, or by offering attractive in game purchase options. These costs are typically small however the large user-base means that substantial sums can be generated. The acquired funds could then utilised by the associated conservation organisation(s) in their day to day work. There are potential weaknesses to the fund raising mechanism including the cost of building a game of sufficient quality and desirability that people are prepared to pay for it up front or so become so keen to keep playing that they are willing to pay to do so. Conservation organisations may have little to no control over the adverts that appear alongside their game and once a conservation cause has been monetised there is a risk that users become critical of how "their" money is spent if it does not meet their expectations.
Promoting research and monitoring:
Games can be used to target either skilled individuals or untrained citizen scientists who use the game as a mechanism to supply data to the organisation behind the game. The games can create strong incentives for participation and submitting data and, provided the game proves successful, can reach a very large number of people, saving money compared to standard research. Making large numbers of people aware of a reporting tool / game can be a challenge and then overseeing the smooth delivery of data can require dedicated staff members as is the case for the RSPBs Big Garden Birdwatch.