There’s serious potential in serious games

The world is being transformed by play. Serious games, or games that have a purpose beyond entertainment  (not games that require serious effort to play, as their moniker suggests) are increasingly being used across industries as potent vehicles to educate, evaluate or make a social impact. Their influence is being felt across healthcare, where games are delivering neurodevelopmental assessments to children, to defense, where military simulations in virtual reality add an unprecedented, tactile layer to training.

Serious games are more ambitious than ever and their developer community is growing. It’s estimated that the serious games sector will be worth just over $9 billion by 2023. Across the United States and Europe, conferences and other annual gatherings have formed to bring industry specialists and developers together: Games for Health Europe is entering its tenth year; and Games for Change will be hosting its 17th festival in 2020. In short, serious games are having their moment.