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PeaceMaker
Developer: ImpactGames
Non-Profit: ImpactGames (www.impaImpactGames) is a for-profit entity. At the same time, one benefit of our early support and publicity is that we have found great
Release Date: February 1st 2007
Project Lead: Eric Brown, Asi Burak
Funding Sources: Our first funding came from Idea Foundry, a non-profit focused on economic development and seed funding for Western Pennsylvania. The Idea Foundry inv
Sponsors/In-kind donations: N/A
Budget:
Overall: 500k
Secured: 500k
Brief Description
PeaceMaker is inspired by real events in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It challenges players to succeed as a leader where others have failed: bringing peace to the Middle-East. Playing both perspectives, players could experience the joy of winning the Nobel Prize or the agony of plunging the region into disaster.
Full Description
PeaceMaker was born in the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) in Carnegie Mellon. As students, we set out to create a video game that is meaningful and non-violent. We chose the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which is to many a representation of the most significant challenges facing leaders today. We thought that in this particular point in time, we have a real chance to add new verbs to the vocabulary of the new generation, the future leaders of the world. PeaceMaker challenges players to establish peace in the Middle East. Players can take the perspective of the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian President and react to unpredictable real-world events. The players� ultimate goal is to create virtual peace and be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. PeaceMaker aims to enhance a deeper understanding of multiple perspectives and challenge the player�s prior knowledge and assumptions. Main features: � PeaceMaker is inspired by real events. � PeaceMaker is a turn-based strategy game with a high level view of the situation. � PeaceMaker is two games in one: the Israeli version and the Palestinian version. � Play the news: the game presents real news footage, images and headlines. � Depending on what players bring to the table, there are three difficulty levels to choose from including calm, tense and violent. PeaceMaker has been featured in media outlets around the world and is available for PC or Mac in English, Arabic and Hebrew.
Target Audience: PeaceMaker aims to bridge the gap between education and entertainment to reach a mass market. The target audience is socially aware adults and teenagers worldwide, gamers and non gamers alike. In addition to �players at home�, high schools, college classroom and community groups can use PeaceMaker as an engaging and innovative way to involve their students in discussing current events.
Social Issues Addressed: global conflict, public policy, political,
Purpose:
PeaceMaker addresses concepts of conflict resolution and the experience of walking in another person�s shoes. The inclusion of real news events (text, images and video) helps in bridging the experience to real world people, places, and perspectives. It also helps the user contextualize events from single moments in time to the bigger picture. Early responses from players around the world demonstrate a deeper comprehension and retention of the issues and in some case a real paradigm shift in viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We included below a few unsolicited quotes from players, categorizing them into �impact areas�. These quotes are giving us confidence that we on the right path for achieving our goals. * Better retention and greater understanding * �Although he [my son] was able to go through the game quickly, he learned more about the conflicts that have been plaguing the Middle East in three hours than I have been able to teach him in many years.� - Terry Bowers, USA * Empathy: thinking differently about the other side * �At first I played on the Israeli side and my reaction was the Palestinian President is being so unfair and hard. So then I switched sides, and literally for the first time in my life was truly able to see the situation from the other side. You are going to have such a big impact with this game. You already have with one self proclaimed Zionist.� - Afsoun Yazdian, USA * Sense of optimism, paradigm shift * �The most surprising thing that came from my experience with the video game Peacemaker was when the game ended and I created peace. I knew fully well what game I was playing and what my objective was but when peace was actually achieved it was such a weird feeling. I mean there isn�t supposed to be peace in that region right? We all want peace but do we believe it is possible? I can say after playing the game and finding a solution I know that subconsciously I was certain that peace was not an option. When peace was achieved and I learned ways that it could happen my whole paradigm for the region changed. I realized that even though I am someone that would like to see peace in the Israeli-Palestine conflict, in actuality I did not think it was possible until after playing this game� If anything Peacemaker shows the player that peace is actually possible. It is the most important first step in creating peace.� - Rolf Burton, USA * Ability to facilitate dialog where it was difficult before * �Having real news events embedded in the game has changed how I view the different aspects of conflict resolution. Sometimes now in class we use examples from the game to express what we want to say.� - Nora Al-Subai (18), Qatar * Community Engagement * �Since the time I spent with my Grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, I have had the opportunity to observe many efforts by individuals from many countries to promote peace. In my opinion Peacemaker is ground breaking in both its conception and execution. This exceptionally creative and relevant video game will further concepts of conflict resolution and peacemaking and bring important new audiences into the fold. Congratulations to the Peacemaker team!� -Arun Gandhi, Founder, MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence As was seen by Arun Gandhi we have created a tool that can be used by many different organizations to promote their message and draw in new members to their communities. We have already been contacted by local Jewish and Muslim community groups as well as peace coalitions and religious and community centers inquiring how they can incorporate our game into their programming.
Metrics:
How? As a for profit company, whose expertise lies in the creation of the experience and distribution, our goals for measuring results are simple: reach and impact as many people as possible. In the development stage and till this day, we have worked with many different groups to evaluate and develop the perspectives represented in the game. At this point, we are supporting a few initiatives by Professors and research students (US and Europe) to do extended studies into the issues relating to decision making and paradigm shift including pre and post testing on the knowledge of the conflict. We will be more than happy to share these findings as they become available.
What outcomes have been measured? See above for consumers� feedback and ongoing research initiatives. Naturally, we are open to any studies initiated by members of the Games for Change community.
Press Coverage:
Please visit https://www.peacemakergame.com/press.php Google searches of "PeaceMaker Game" will produce many more results.
Press Release URL: Upon Request
Public Contact Information
Name: Eric Brown
Email: ericbrown@impactgames.com
Press Contact Name: Eric Brown
Press Contact Email: ericbrown@impactgames.com
Game Tags: Strategy, simulation, peace, conflict resolution, interactive news, Israel, Palestine, Middle East
Where you can play this game: The game is available for purchase on our website (www.peacemakergame.com) and some other distribution partners� sites. We hope to have physical presence in stores by the time of the conference. The game can be downloaded for $19.95.
