AMD gets socially aware

AMD announces a move into charitable gaming at Fifth Annual Games for Change Festival.

Having displayed an aptitude for non-profit, AMD today unveiled Let the Games Begin: A Toolkit 4 Making Social Issue Games, to help not-for-profit organisations develop social awareness games on topics like the environment, energy consumption, poverty and health.

Teaming up with Games for Change (G4C), the AMD foundation and the firm's Changing the Game initiative will help push forward bleeding heart, social content laden games meant to "inspire youth to learn critical education and life skills".

The programme, which focuses on 13 to 18 year-olds, marries AMD's microprocessor and GPU know-how with digital game development and was launched as part of AMD's sponsorship and participation at the Fifth Annual Games for Change Festival in New York.

The chip firm hopes its initiative will reach out and touch disadvantaged young ‘uns, by flooding them with games teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and life skills.

President of the AMD Foundation, Allyson Peerman, noted "The Let The Games Begin toolkit is an important resource to inform and educate organizations that are interested in using games as a medium for communicating about important social issues."

The foundation has previously worked with a number of other nonprofit groups across the US including Girlstart, Global Kids, Institute for Urban Game Design and Science Buddies.

The G4C toolkit is free and can be downloaded here.