Games for Change Festival Date, Speakers Known; Extra Summit And Free Arcade Set

A date for the 12th Annual Games for Change Festival has been set on April 21 to April 23, 2015 at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. This event is in conjunction with the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival and is stated to be the largest gaming event in New York City, depending on New York Comic Con being included in this self-appointed title or not.

Games for Change strives to welcome those projects that try to alter the climate of the gaming industry or discuss socio-political and other worldly topics. There are also Games for Change Awards, which will be held on April 22, this year. Finalists will be announced in March. Previous winners include Gone Home, which tries to deal with queer acceptance topics, as well as the bureaucratic dystopia of Papers, Please.

As is customary, Games for Change will host a few speakers from the gaming world and beyond, to give keynote presentations. Previous years have had Al Gore, former vice president to the United States of America. This year, director Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold will attend. Other guests include Michael Abrash from Oculus VR and developer Rovio from the Angry Birds franchise. Of course, Vlambeer’s Rami will be there, but they’re everywhere, always.

This year, Games for Change also strengthens its bond with the Tribeca Film Festival in the form of a Games & Film Summit. It will conjoin both media, as stated by the following description:

Through panels, workshops, screenings, and gameplay opportunities, the day-long summit will illustrate how new and innovative platforms — including interactive documentaries, transmedia projects, films that play like games, and more — can serve the social good.

In 2013, the Tribeca Film Festival became one of the first non-gaming events to recognize the transcending experience of games, as they screened Beyond: Two Souls, a game from developer David Cage that starred actress Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe.

There are tickets on sale now for the Games for Change Festival that range wildly in price, though a 20% early bird discount is applicable until February 20, 2015. Additionally, aside from the event itself, a Games for Change Arcade will be open to the public on April 25, 2015.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed (@Daavpuke)