Brand games

A piece from the NY Times' environment blog dot.earth shows how virtual worlds and role playing games are increasingly being produced to promote single issues and causes - as well as brands.

The Sim City series has since 1989 been based on the idea of you creating, building and managing your own city. This latest installment, Simcity Societies, acts as a global warming simulation where your decisions have a direct impact on your 'city's' carbon footprint.

The twist is one that dot.earth says may annoy both gamers and environmentalists: A paying customer is on board with a form of product and brand placement. The wind turbines and solar panels have the logo of BP stamped on them, which a number of years ago changed its initials to stand for 'Beyond Petroleum.'

In fact there are a number of worlds and games out there that have been specifically produced to either highlight an issue or sell a product or service to consumers.

For example, 'Serious Policy' (hat tip - Gamez) educates gamers about the political process where you are out to lobby for treasury funding for policy initiatives. The UN's World Food Programme has launched 'Food Force' , where your mission is to feed the hungry on the make believe island of 'Sheylan' in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe.

And perhaps most infamously, a number of armed forces are using games to draw in recruits. Americas Army provides "young Americans with a virtual web based environment where they can explore army careers", and has been updated to take account of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

And brands? One of the most successful virtual worlds at the moment is Barbie Girls, created by Mattell. Girls can go online, create Barbie like avatars, customise them and interact with other characters. At the current rate of growth and especially with Christmas around the corner, Barbie Girls is expected to overtake Second Life's resident total (currently at 11 million) in spring 2008.