SUBOTRON pro games: Games for Climate Care at MAK

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Of course, we will execute the latest COVID19 rules on site for your and all attendees safety. Atm, it is 3G and wearing a mask at all times. To be updated.

Location: MAK Vortragssaal, Entrance Weiskirchnerstr.3, 1010 Vienna

In times of upheaval and reorientation, the medium games is becoming increasingly important in conveying content beyond pure entertainment. In recent years, the term “serious games” has been increasingly rejected by game developers and academics due to its misinterpretation as “not entertaining” and “only for learning purposes” and its often poor execution. “Impact games” is beginning to establish itself as a term for digital games that influence attitudes and behaviour, promote empathy and contribute to solutions to social, economic, educational, scientific and cultural challenges. In this segment, tasks in areas such as health, education and ecology are increasingly becoming part of narrative content and gameplay.

For the exhibition CLIMATE CARE: Reimagining Shared Planetary Futures during Vienna Biennale 2021 at the MAK running until 03.10.21, SUBOTRON curated five games from all over the world which interactively visualize issues around climate care topics to the visitors and inspire them to take joint action.

Presentations and Panel

Represenatives of all games gather for presentations of their work and takes on impact games and climate care. The ensuing panel discusses their approaches and solutions on how to help saving the planet via interactive experiences with the audience. The international participants will be streamed, the locals are on site.

Participants:

David Fernandez Huerta (Creative Director ustwo games, London)

David is the Studio Art Director at ustwo games, and the Creative Director of “Alba: a Wildlife Adventure”, recipient of the Apple Design Award for Social Impact and the Games For Change Game of the Year award. Also with ustwo games he was Art Director of “Monument Valley 2”, as well as an artist, animator and level designer on both “Monument Valley ” and “Land’s End”. David started making games when he was a teen, and became a professional 14 years ago. In this time he has worked on games for many different platforms and formats, from handheld consoles to VR headsets, always striving to make games that are surprising, welcoming and beautiful.

Alan Gershenfeld (President E-Line Media, Phoenix AZ)

Alan Gershenfeld is Co-Founder/President of E-Line Media, a developer of commercial social impact video games. E-Line titles include the BAFTA award winning “Never Alone”, “Beyond Blue”, “Gamestar Mechanic” and “MinecraftEdu”. Alan has worked on impact game projects with the Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, NSF, BBC, USAID, DARPA, White House OSTP, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Google and others. Prior to E-Line, Alan was SVP Activision Studios where he oversaw titles such as “Civilization: Call to Power”, “Muppet Treasure Island”, “Spycraft”, “Pitfall”, “Zork” and “Tony Hawk Skateboarding”. Alan has served on the Board of FilmAid International, Advisory Boards for iCivics and Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. He is former Chairman of Games for Change, a Founding Industry Fellow at the ASU Center for Games and Impact and Co-Founder of Experimental Design, a leading world building design agency.

Javier Ramello (CEO Herobeat Studios, Barcelona)

Javier graduated from the University of Alicante with a degree in Computer Science and an University Expert Degree in Video Game Development. He worked for several national and international video game companies and released some amazing games to Steam and iTunes/Google Play, and worked on many unreleased but still very instructive and enjoyable projects, including the lead of a VR title. Javier co-founded Herobeat Studios 2018 , where he is developing “Endling”, a PC/Console project to be published by german publisher HandyGames.

Gerald Reitschmied (Co-Founder/CEO anti entropy, Vienna)

Bred and molded in the coolest city on this tiny green and blue rock that we all use to float through space together, Gerald Reitschmied soon became aware that other spots on our earth aren’t that cool and also are getting hotter and hotter because we humans managed to f*k things up. So after a couple of years on pretty much useless contract work behind the screen he decided to use his skills to help out – hence the idea for “Rebuilders” was born. His goal is to transform his company anti entropy into a force for good on a multitude of layers. The first step with “Rebuilders” is to marry the enertainment industry and its massive potential to social and environmental impact.

Felix Bohatsch (CEO Broken Rules, Vienna)

Indie at his heart, Felix co-founded Broken Rules right after finishing his studies. He loves to create games that touch people all around the world and linger on in the minds of the players, long after the device has been put down. The last game he co-created was Apple Design Award winner “Old Man’s Journey”. Currently he is working on “Project Jungle” (working title).

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH

Unterstützt von der Fachgruppe UBIT Wien

Mit freundlicher Unterstützung vom Zentrum für Angewandte Spieleforschung der Donau Universität Krems