Global Gaming Initiative gets gamers to donate money for bikes in Africa

The Global Gaming Initiative wants gamers to do good by playing games. The for-profit company has created a mobile game called Sidekick Cycle where 50 percent of all in-app purchases are donated to charity.

sidekick cycle donationThe startup is part of a movement, dubbed Games For Change, aimed at doing social good through games. It is one effort that could go a long way toward remaking the public image of games.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.