Games For Change has announced the finalists for its annual awards ceremony, as well as the winner of its Industry Leadership award. This year, the award goes to Microsoft for its work with accessibility and inclusivity in gaming.
According to Games For Change, Microsoft's work "[harnesses] the transformative power of games and immersive media across education, mental health, and accessibility". The company's Microsoft Education initiative is a "backbone" for schools, according to GFC, and its Adaptive Controller and accessibility initiatives also contributed to its winning the Industry Leadership award. Games For Change president Susanna Pollack says Microsoft is paving the way towards a more inclusive gaming world.
What games are finalists in this year's Games For Change awards?
Finalists for this year's Games For Change awards were also announced alongside Microsoft's achievement (no pun intended). Categories include Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, and Most Significant Impact, among others. Finalists are largely from the indie space, with one or two major studios showing up. These finalists were selected by a jury of 70 people crossing development, research, and analysis sectors. All of the finalists are eligible for Games For Change's Game of the Year award, as well as the G4C People's Choice award. Here's the full list:
Best Gameplay
- Arise: A Simple Story
- Dear Reader
- Mosaic
- Sky: Children of the Light
Most Innovative
- Concrete Genie
- Dreams
- Sea of Solitude
- Sky: Children of the Light
Most Significant Impact
- Eliza
- Life is Strange 2
- Sea of Solitude
- SweetXheart
Best Learning Game
- Funexpected Math
- Mightier
- Rabbids Coding
- Sci-Ops: Global Defense
Best Student Game
- Apollo
- Gamer Girl
- Plasticity
- Resilience
Best XR for Change
- Bonfire
- Escape to the Future
- Paper Beast
- The Holy City
All of the games in these categories are eligible for the G4C People's Choice award, which will be presented by Facebook Gaming. Voting is open right now to anyone and everyone, so go cast your vote if there's a game here that you particularly loved. You've got until July 1st at 6 pm ET to vote. The Games For Change ceremony will be streamed at 7:30 pm ET on July 14th as part of the overarching Games For Change festival, which takes place between July 14th and July 16th.
Are there any of these games you've particularly enjoyed? How do you feel about Microsoft winning the Industry Leadership award? Let us know in the comments below!
