A Game Developer's Perspective on Social Impact Video Games: Conclusions from a Qualitative Study

This paper presents a qualitative study examining social impact video games from the standpoint of the developers who create them. Its central aim is to move beyond theoretical discussions of games for change and to capture the practical challenges and opportunities that creators encounter when designing, producing, and distributing titles intended to affect players' perspectives on social issues. The work is positioned as relevant both to scholars of games and society and to practitioners developing digital games-based learning interventions.

The research was conducted between October and November 2024 with 15 international video game creators, including students, academics, and professionals with varying levels of experience in game development companies. Before the interviews, participants' selected games were tested in gameplay sessions, and observations from these sessions were folded into the interview questionnaire. The games examined ranged from student and game jam projects to internationally funded collaborations, covering empathy-driven portrayals of difficult personal experiences, ecological concerns, historical conflicts, and contemporary social challenges. Interviews were recorded and are slated for thematic coding, with a questionnaire of more than forty questions addressing educational background, development decisions and technology, playtest and post-release reception, perceptions of the potential and limitations of serious games, and strategies for promotion.

The study's stated outcome is a synthesis of the identified themes into recommendations and anticipated challenges across preproduction, production, and distribution. Because the findings are presented as an intended analysis, the paper's conclusions are framed as the developer-derived guidance the coding process is expected to yield rather than as completed quantitative results. The sample of fifteen participants and the focus on qualitative depth define the scope of the work, and the author positions the contribution as an applied complement to existing theoretical frameworks on social impact game design.