We’re teaming up with XPRIZE to empower the next generation of game developers

BY MATT DALIO

Creation shapes you. 

That’s the fundamental idea driving a prize we just launched with XPRIZE. Code Games is the inaugural challenge from their newly launched XPRIZE Connect initiative, which is aimed at democratizing access to learning through technology. This competition unlocks the creative power of youth by challenging them to build games of their own.

This challenge wasn’t imagined in a vacuum. We’re in an unprecedented moment in which everything we know about engaging students in their learning is changing daily. No matter what, though, we know that when we create, we learn and grow. This competition has become even more relevant as kids are locked in quarantine with little but their imaginations. Paired with the right tools, that imagination can unlock so much creativity, so many ideas and so much learning.

We have seen creation and learning go hand-in-hand, from the days of sandcastles and play dough and forts and legos all the way through Minecraft and code. We learn when we get our hands deep into the muck. From the mud imagination takes form. That’s when we learn.

These youth-built games will span the themes of Exploration, Environment and Human Equity. As the future remains uncertain, we need to ask ourselves, how do we engage our youth in solving the challenges ahead? Games give an opportunity for youth to grapple with their ideas more deeply and to build solutions with a creativity that is only possible in gameland. 

Finally, they get to share these games. We know that when we create something that our peers use, and we use something that our peers have built, we learn from each other. A big part of video games is sharing with your friends, and when that consists of sharing one’s own ideas around the world’s challenges we will see kids engage with each other in solving those problems.

Our partners at xPrize felt the same way about all of this. So did our friends at E-Line Media. And with that, Code Games was born. When it comes to mobilizing groups of people to have impact through competitions, xPrize has led the movement since its first competition catalyzing rockets into space. E-Line Media, having built Minecraft Edu and run the National STEM Video Game Challenge, is the perfect partner to run the program. Together, it’s an incredible team.

At Endless and with E-Line and XPRIZE, we’re working on various models and case studies to learn how to supercharge the educational gaming space. But there’s always room for more experimentation. The industry is ready to move forward. And education is ready for gaming.

Together, with Code Games, we have a fun way of engaging kids to reimagine their future. Imagination is the first step in creating change. They get to do so from all around the globe, with kids from 5 continents signing up within 24 hours of launch. All of them from home.

I hope that this also allows us educators and game developers to imagine a future in which highly engaging games might be a tool at our disposal.