Sustainable Lifestyle: Green Grey And Pocket Size Games Take On Social Responsibility In Gaming – Forbes
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When Kim Kardashian launched her celebrity-driven game Hollywood in 2014, the move was largely ridiculed by the mainstream media. Fast forward to spring 2021 and Electronic Arts has acquired Glu Mobile – Kim’s game publisher – for $2.4 billion. That’s a billion with a K! The gaming industry has been growing steadily and diversifying its consumer appeal and portfolio well before the COVID-19 pandemic nearly doubled the market. Already in some markets, gaming revenues are posed to outperform other entertainment segments. This month the streaming pioneer Netflix has branched out into gaming with five mobile games available at no extra cost to its army of subscribers worldwide. Phenomenal popularity of Squid Game as a gamification milestone signals that younger generations are bringing gaming mentality to social and cultural processes.
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Having explored mindfulness in next generation games, I keep an eye on related developments. Following the news of a $2 million investment in “social impact games,” Green Grey company invested in independent game studio Pocket Size Games (PSG) that will create a new generation of mobile games based on the themes of environmental pollution awareness, social inequality, sustainable lifestyle, and other social issues. According to Green Grey, the pilot project will be a game with an exciting storyline about a world on the brink of environmental catastrophe and is expected to be unveiled by March 2023. I reached out to the team behind this latest breakthrough for the gaming industry: Dima Morozov, Green Grey founder and tech investor, Michael Casalino, Pocket Size Games advisor (former Art Director at Disney Mobile and ex-CEO of 5518 Studios), Maxim Miheyenko, Pocket Size Games advisor, ex-COO of 5518 Studios, and actor and producer Yuri Kolokolnikov, whose on-screen battles include Game of Thrones and Tenet among other blockbusters. So, does the future belong to Gamers?
Despite massive demand, gaming remains a controversial pastime due to its alleged addictive nature. How do you balance commercial interests with ethical concerns?
Dima Morozov: Over the last quarter of a century, the world changed beyond recognition when it comes to games. Gamification is an integral part of life for new generations; we cannot do anything about that now. Games have evolved too. They teach awareness, increase processing speed and critical assessment of incoming information. Gaming companies need to understand their responsibility. We wanted to invest in social impact games with plots that address real world problems. This way commercial interests and ethics are balanced already in development. We are interested in the future of socially responsible gaming.
Dima Morozov, Green Grey founder and tech investor
What does “socially responsible gaming” mean?
Michael Casalino: Social responsibility is extremely important today in society and in business. We love what big brands like Tesla, Beyond Meat, or First Solar say about the world. Game developers begin to develop mindfulness in different ways. It becomes important, through gameplay and narrative, to convey a message to the players that will push them towards self-development. Meanwhile, gamers are shifting their focus to games about mental health, cyber security, and ecology, which are main trends of our future. It is extremely pleasing that such a trend is changing the industry, bringing new meaning to it, and giving space to both large companies and indie developers. Our main goal is to make the players think about their personal responsibility in environmental impact.
The main thing we need to do in games (like this) is that we can’t really teach people right upfront. Teaching people really needs to be in a format of edutainment, nearly invisible. What our team is trying to do, from a creative and story standpoint is – almost subliminally – teaching the audience about the environmental issues and what is right and what is wrong. We show them the way we can take care of the world, of the environment. At the end of the day, they are having a great gaming experience, but walking down the street and seeing a piece of garbage on the ground later, they pick it up and throw it away. We have to find ways of how to get this behavior pattern added into their lifestyle rather than forcing people to do that.
Michael Casalino, Pocket Size Games advisor (former Art Director at Disney Mobile and ex-CEO of 5518 … [+]
That’s always a challenge to make sure that a game needs to be really fun, people need to enjoy it in a creative way, they need to come back and play it. In fact, everything is under the hood of the game: we are teaching people about the world, the ecology, and other things. If you look at the character we are creating (in this game), there is so much about diversity and inclusion. We are trying to create a gender-neutral character. We are not trying to say what kind of person this is, is this a boy or a girl. We are just trying to say, this is a person, that’s all. We do not only teach people about the world they live in, but about how people are different. We have much of this built-in in our games, and this is what makes the game fun.
How do you evaluate social impact investments beyond ROI?
Dima Morozov: Naturally, ROI is an important component for business sustainability. However, social impact factors in the audience reach, emotional investment, potential for scalable change, and so on. A mobile phone is now available to nearly every person in the world. This makes mobile games a new mass media. Games are a new communication channel that combines top audio and visuals with direct and immediate engagement. This is the crucial element that was missing for the press, radio, and television. If fifty million players feel inspired to reconsider their behavior towards environmental issues, for example, you cannot measure that in monetary terms. We do not expect this to be a purely commercial product that generates profits indefinitely. It should be financially sustainable and move people towards our common future.
Maxim Miheyenko: Talking about our latest deal with Green Grey, these investments made and our cooperation is a great chance to create a new generation of story-driven games for our audience. These games will help people find themselves in the virtual world – and find solutions to the global problems of the real world. That is to say, social impact is both the top success factor for our performance as a business and our core value.
Maxim Miheyenko, Pocket Size Games advisor, ex-COO of 5518 Studios
Tech market is full of spectacular rise-and-fall stories. What guides your investment decision making in such a volatile market?
Dima Morozov: Our distinguishing feature is that we invest not in products, but in teams we believe in. When you invest in people, you will always weather mistakes, because you can pivot your strategy to better respond to the market. If you invest into a product, that may not be possible. There are lots of factors in the process: something can go wrong in development, or new competitors enter the field, or the consumer interest shifts. Investing in people is how we minimize our risks. With the right team you trust you can try something different until you succeed. All the rise-and-fall stories are about products: apps, gadgets, platforms. Motivated people just move on to new ideas.
I want to ask Yuri if acting in Game of Thrones, Tenet and other fantasy-savvy, action-heavy projects prepared you for engaging with the gaming industry in this new capacity?
Yuri Kolokolnikov: In a way, yes. Large productions create very realistic sets and circumstances, so you are not acting but living in these situations. The future belongs to immersive experiences. A gamer is an action star of his or her game every time they play. We all want excitement, creative challenges, new ideas, new people. My involvement with Pocket Size Games has been rewarding. At the end of the day, a game is a story. This is another way for me to practice storytelling.
Actor and producer Yuri Kolokolnikov, whose on-screen battles include Game of Thrones and Tenet … [+]
Michael Casalino: Yuri is right, it is a form of storytelling. We can formulate the basic principles of game development in a few words. Act according to the situation, be ready for anything, always keep the main goal in focus. Regardless of whether the player is fascinated by the game atmosphere or connects emotionally with their character, they are learning new skills, discovering new locations, leveling up, communicating strategically with others. Mastering all that may help a person look more bravely into their future. In the new digital era, it is possible to think “outside the box” and share your ideas more expressively and unconventionally than ever.
What role did games play in your personal coming of age?
Dima Morozov: I’ve been a player for over 20 years, and games have had a significant impact on my life. I’ve always loved strategy games: from Civilization to Heroes of Might and Magic to Hearthstone. When you make a decision in the game, you can see its consequences immediately, you can retrace the pattern of choices, get the big picture. It teaches you a lot about life. Now that games are a part of my work, I play with a different mindset. I can play twenty new games over the course of a weekend to analyze them as an industry professional. I am interested in character development, storylines, and monetization. I try to figure out why a game is doing well or didn’t strike a chord with players. Once I get an idea, I move on to the next game.
Maxim Miheyenko: Our team is made of gaming veterans! Games have always been an important part of our lives. Sometimes, we sit down together and play Heroes of Might and Magic, Inside, Life Is Strange, Heavy Rain to reconnect with the excitement we felt as players in childhood. Our lead game designers Mikhail Goransky and Alexandra Net remind us that while people consider games as a form of entertainment today, games are an evolutionary engine that predates language. Our ancestors communicated through play before they could share knowledge in writing or verbally. Games are us!
