Tencent, TiMi call on Southeast Asian students to act on climate change

Tencent, through TiMi Studio Group (TiMi) and Tencent Institute of Games, today announced that it is hosting Green Game Jam for Youth, a global online competition inspired by the broader Green Game Jam, organised by the United Nations (UN) -facilitated initiative, the Playing for the Planet Alliance.

The Green Game Jam for Youth is aimed at university students, challenging them to create games with environment-focused elements or themes. The youth competition is also bringing together the biggest names in video games across mobile, console and PC to educate and empower millions of players to act for nature.

"The Green Game Jam for Youth represents Tencent's corporate social responsibility, using games to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of protecting our planet," said Krittee Manoleehagul, vice president of Tencent Cloud International for Southeast Asia. "We are committed to leveraging tech for good and creating sustainable innovations for social value for the community. This competition will both motivate the next generation of gaming developers in the Southeast Asia to be climate-conscious and offer the tools and knowledge to raise environmental awareness through technology."

Games have the power to raise awareness among billions of people across the globe about environmental conservation and restoration. They can also educate about the actions and solutions needed to strengthen our response towards the threats of climate change.

To that end, Tencent is partnering with several universities in Southeast Asia to encourage their students to join Green Game Jam for Youth and promote environmental solutions needed to make the world a better place. Universities taking part include Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation in Malaysia, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and DigiPen Institute of Technology in Singapore, Bangkok University, Dhurakij Pundit University and Mahidol University in Thailand, Universitas Indonesia and Bandung Institute of Technology also in Indonesia, with more to come.

Speaking on the collaboration with Tencent, Assoc. Prof. Wong Bee Suan, head, School of Computing, Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) said, "We are honoured to be given this opportunity to partner with the leading global technology company Tencent in fighting for a cause that is bigger than ourselves. At Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, our goal is to not only equip our students with the fundamental skills required by the booming gaming industry, but to also harness the power of gaming in fighting climate change."

"At DigiPen (Singapore), we push our students to execute the kind of work that challenges their minds and excites the imagination. The Green Game Jam for Youth is an avenue for our students to apply their capabilities and skills in addressing one of the world's biggest challenges – climate change. We see this competition as a platform for our students to demonstrate that they do not just excel in their studies, but can go on to be responsible and eco-conscious members of our global society," said a DigiPen (Singapore) spokesperson.

The youth competition aims to engage with students at over 300 universities across China, North America and Southeast Asia. Competitors in the youth challenge will get guidance on games development and adopting effective strategies to promote environmental responsibility via online webinars and courses from the Tencent Institute of Games and other mentors in the gaming industry.

Winners will receive awards and cash prizes, including US$10,000 for "Gold," US$3,000 for "Silver," US$1,000 for "Bronze" and a US$500 prize for the "Honorary" fourth-place finisher. The result of the competition will be shared to the world in November during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, UK.