Video games are inherently educational, Pollack pointed out, because the whole point of them is to learn new skills and work on them until the player masters them. But Games for Change moves beyond the basics, promoting the potential of video games to teach social skills, educate about topics like world history, or improve empathy.

There’s even games these days even get people off the couch and get them to pick up very traditionally ungamer-like hobbies, such as running.

Pollack discussed how games provide unique opportunities to reach audiences.

“You’ve got the opportunity for players to have agency, to actually change the outcome of a story, to step in the role of a character, to direct decisions that are happening in that game,” Pollack explained. “And that lends itself really well to an immersive experience.”