Game Developers Rebellion: learning from the resonant realities of climate activism
By Joost Vervoort — Anticiplay Project Lead
Dr. Joost Vervoort is an Associate Professor of Transformative Imagination at Utrecht University. His work focuses on connecting imagined futures, games, politics and action. Email: j.m.vervoort@uu.nl Twitter: @Vervoort_Joost
Last Saturday, around a thousand climate activists blocked the A12 highway in the Hague, the Netherlands. They called for an end to the 17.5 billion euros of annual subsidies and tax benefits the Dutch governments gives to the fossil fuel industry. They were cheered on from the sides of the road by several thousand supporters. The protest was organized by Extinction Rebellion, Fossielvrij, Milieudefensie and others. The A12 has been blocked before by climate activists, but the number of people who showed up this Saturday was new. There was a reason for this. Earlier last week, six people who called for the blockade were ‘preventively’ arrested by Dutch police. They were soon released, but this action was widely perceived as a clear intimidation tactic aimed at discouraging the blockade. The effect was the opposite. The arrests were all over the Dutch news, and activists were invited to popular talk shows.
Many people, infuriated with the move by the police and concerned about the state of Dutch democratic rights, decided to show their support. Among the thousands of supporters were 40 civil society organizations. A number of their directors attended personally. There was a clear momentum around this blockade.
Like so many others, I decided to join. I looked at the Extinction Rebellion website, which said that if you haven’t followed XR’s action training, which I hadn’t, it was better to support the action on the side. I was then asked by the organizers to help support the supporters by providing food, water and reassurance for those who might need it, which I was very happy to do.
It was a sunny, cold Saturday. The blockade was in a perfect spot on the A12 — between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate on the one side; and the House of Representatives on the other side. An iconic scenario. The A12 itself lies a lot lower than its surroundings, partly tunnelling under the city. Extinction Rebellion had covered the sides of the A12 semi-tunnel in (washable) slogans about stopping fossil subsidies. The police allowed the blockade to be set up, then, over the next hours, slowly moved in to start removing participants. Police initially threatened to start arresting the supporters by the side of the road as well. But thousands of people cheerfully and calmly stood their ground, and so they gave up on this plan.
There was something profoundly cinematic about the whole scene. The activists down below on the A12, some of them chained to the road, or tied up high in the street lights. People playing music and singing songs. The police slowly moving in. And thousands of people cheering them on from the side lines, singing ‘you are not alone!’. With so many onlookers, the activists were safer from mishandling by the policy. Amnesty International observers were there to record everything about the protest. Those of us on team ‘wellbeing’ kept an eye on the supporters and handed them cookies and water to cheer them on — giving them a bit of energy and friendliness in the cold sun. Felt good to be able to do that.
I was there for two reasons. The first was simply to support the blockade, for all the same reasons that everyone else was there. But the second one has to do with game design and with imaginative possibilities. For the last year, the Anticiplay project team has been keenly interested in building bridges between games and activism. Games that engage with sustainability issues often strike a dull, didactic and managerial tone, treating climate change and connected issues like technocratic puzzles to be solved and planned through.
This is in such stark contrast with the realities of climate politics. Those realities are full of conflict, corruption and entangled interests, and, of course, activism and protests. Lots of emotions are involved. Anger, sadness, despair, powerlessness. Inspiration and connection. At the same time, some of the most successful commercial games also focus on politics and conflict to drive their plots and get players engaged. Some of the best games encourage players to do in their fictional settings what activists do in real life: be brave, be wild, challenge power, try the impossible. There’s a real gap here, and a possibility for game design that inspires and empowers people.
We’ve organized two workshops on the theme of games and activism so far. These workshops have, among other things, generated many ideas for wild, challenging activist games that try to make a real difference. We’ve listened to activists talk about their experiences. Participants from the worlds of game design and activism alike are interested in developing more structural connections, and making some of these game ideas come to life.
I’ve come to believe it is very powerful for game designers to experience climate activism first hand and get involved. To understand what actually, really works when it comes to climate activism. To experience its reality: what does it feel, smell, sound and look like to be involved? A core sociological theory that our Anticiplay team works with is the notion of interaction rituals. Interaction ritual theory can be used to understand why and how people get energized and motivated by doing meaningful things together. There is an experiential, embodied and ritual aspect to activism, and especially to public actions like the A12 blockade. Activism can also be deeply exhausting and frustrating, and activist burnout is real. However, it can be profoundly connective, energizing and empowering as well. It means that being a part of climate actions and protests can be personally transformative, making it more likely that people remain involved or increase their involvement next time.
When game designers are deeply entangled with and committed to the realities of activism, we are developing experiential and embodied understandings of what it means to fight for the planet. Our goals shift, we become more committed. We meet new people and become part of activist communities. We make different games. And we weave the resonant experiences and salient details about activism into those games — making those realities more accessible.
In 2021, I joined a meeting by activist group Fossielvrij focused on preparing a court case against the biggest Dutch pension fund ABP, to force them into divesting their investments from fossil fuels and into renewables. I almost didn’t join the live gathering — I’d had a long week. But I’m so glad I went. The energy and sense of community among the Fossielvrij activists was incredibly inspiring. They were on target ethically and strategically, and everyone knew it. This was a heroic campaign. Being there, physically, talking with people about different approaches and plans, sparked the idea to build a wild, humorous and playful game a la ‘Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney’ about taking fossil fuel giants and their investors to court. This game, in turn, could raise money for real life court cases. We’re now hard at work at making this game, now titled ‘ALL RISE’, a reality, together with some of the coolest people in the game sector. I don’t think I would have had this idea if I wouldn’t have been infused with the energy of that live meeting. Only months later, by the way, when the court case was still only a threat in the air, the ABP pension fund committed to divesting its 15 billion euros of investments from fossil fuels. Real, effective activist action, helping to open up the concrete possibility of a better world. Our team is currently conducting research on exactly why this campaign was so successful. Insights from this research feed into our game mechanics and narrative.
I would like to propose that all of us involved in game design, whether as designers, journalists, researchers, publishers or funders, get involved in climate activism. Firstly, because the cause needs us. It needs our bodies, or voices, our food and water. It also needs our imaginative capacities and our creativity. I look at the A12 blockade through the eyes of game design and I see a very dramatic physical setting, looming tensions with the police, people making the decision to get arrested or not. I see community, mutual support. I see the police using big scale equipment to try to get people out of streetlights. Then there is the campaigning and organizing around the blockade. The television interviews. The online discourse, the Twitter randoms saying they would like to drive over the protesters with cars. I’m playing Citizen Sleeper this week and I’m just thinking about how all of this real life drama and heroism would fit in a narratively deep game like that.
So what about it? Can we get organized? A Game Designers Rebellion? I think if we can get more and more of the game sector involved in activism, the impact on the sector will emerge naturally. Supporting direct action while inspiring broader societal imaginations through creative production. If you agree, why don’t you send me a message here: j.m.vervoort@uu.nl
Back in 2021, there was a 16 year old guy at the Fossielvrij meeting who immediately cheered and jumped up when I presented the idea for the Ace Attorney-style game, because he was a big fan of the series. I saw him again last Saturday among the blockade supporters. He was overjoyed to hear the game was actually being developed. I gave him a stroopwafel cookie to get some energy in the cold.
Anticiplay is an NWO Vidi-funded research project that aims to establish a new design paradigm for the gaming sector in collaboration with CreaTures EU. You can find our mission statement here! In short: we’re all about Games For Better Futures and Futures for Better Games. Follow us @anticiplay on Twitter, and feel free to engage us with any questions, games that you think are inspiring, and anything else!
