The Economist launches our first videogame

Here's a blurb on the Energyville game we just launched...

Online game provides cross-platform communications solution

New York, NY - The Economist Group and Chevron Corporation today launched Energyville, an interactive online game that challenges players to meet the growing energy needs of their own city.

“We are pleased to have devised such a valuable fully-integrated communications tool in partnership with Chevron,” said Paul Rossi, North American Publisher of The Economist. “There is no ‘right’ answer to the world’s energy challenge and Energyville was designed to show the complexities and the tough choices that have to be made to meet the energy needs of a growing, modern city. Given the importance of energy in our lives, Energyville is an opportunity to stimulate and help create awareness around energy choices.”

“Energyville is an engaging way of looking at the real-world decisions that have to be made in meeting rising global energy needs,” said Rhonda Zygocki, Chevron vice president of Policy, Government and Public Affairs. “Sponsoring Energyville supports our efforts to encourage a global debate of the critical energy issues. Energyville gives people an opportunity to test their energy literacy and learn for themselves the challenges in powering their own city.”

Energyville, developed using data and content provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit, examines the economic, environmental and security opportunities and trade-offs associated with different energy sources. In order to provide fuel and power to their city’s homes, offices, factories and vehicles, Energyville players must balance the same competing demands faced by policymakers, businesses and consumers every day. Spanning a period from present day to 2030, players manage the energy supply for their growing city through random events that affect their choices and highlight the consequences of their actions. Energyville is hosted on www.willyoujoinus.com, an energy discussion forum created by Chevron.

Energyville represents an average industrialised global city, with population and energy demands, uses and costs, based on projected patterns using data from the Economist Intelligence Unit and organisations such as the OECD and the Energy Information Administration. During the game, players must choose between eight prevalent energy sources to power their city up until 2015 and 10 different sources up until 2030. As players move through the game’s phases they learn about the characteristics of the energy sources and negotiate real life scenarios that can affect their energy choices. The economical, environmental and security implications of their chosen energy portfolio are calculated using an energy management points system. Players can compare scores with other players, challenge a friend and debate the results on www.willyoujoinus.com.