Today is Earth Day 2023, a time to spread the world on climate change and reflect on what we’re all doing to help preserve the planet. And what better way to get the message through today’s entertainment snowstorm than via a mobile game?
Earthday.org is collaborating with Sankari Studios’ game industry veterans, Christian Busic Rossi, Simon Mathew, and co-founders Victoria Raiser and Rexanne Martin for the world-wide release of Katoa, a mobile game with the climate crisis as its focus.
Sankari’s team includes veterans of Call of Duty, Marvel games, The Amazing Spiderman, James Bond, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles and more. While Katoa’s message is simple: Play the game – save the world.
Play and save
Released April 22 2023 the game has four partners all of which will share in profits raised and put the money towards essential, in-progress projects helping to save the environment all around the world. Those initial partners are EarthDay.org, The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), and SavingPenguins.org.
Sankari co-founder Victoria Raiser says, “Our strategy is to harness and focus the immense power of the 3.5 billion strong universe of gamers, that play 120 billion hours annually on mitigating the climate crisis. This encompasses every continent, age, gender, ethnicity, education level and social class and we are meeting people where they are… playing games! Our research has shown that players are beyond hungry to have tangible impact, so we focus on making games that are fun and a catalyst for a Return on Humanity (ROH).”
Fellow co-founder Rexanne Martin continues, “Our platforms enable access to knowledge and give people tools to effect change, which is the basis for an equitable and sustainable future. Players discover their piece of the planet to care for and join a community with shared purpose and strength in numbers, saving the world together. The more players, the more funding, the closer we are to changing our planet’s trajectory. Our mission is straightforward: Play the Game. Save the World.”
Katoa begins beneath the ocean waves, exploring the 3D sea bed, managing resources while combating toxic blight that threatens the homes of the wildlife you find. “Each new species that visits your haven is unique, and once they call it home, they’ll join your ever-growing, one-of-a-kind collection,” explains Christian Busic Rossi. “In Katoa you’ll be one with the wildlife, learning their stories and sending them on quests to gather rewards and find new adventures. This is a casual F2P sim game, which includes inspiring bridges from the virtual to the real world.”
Simon Mathew continues: “Katoa connects players with the cause, the effect, and the solutions in a way no other game has ever done. It’s a massively scalable platform to tackle the global inequality caused by climate change through democratic deployment of technology. Playing Katoa means supporting people around the world to save not only themselves, but also their future.”
The game is available in app stores now.