Trevor Noah’s Day Zero Productions and Anima Interactive introduced the winners of their recreation jam, Day Zero Video games: Solarpunk Jam.
Out of almost 200 individuals from 35 international locations, Photo voltaic Salvage, a automobile constructing and exploration recreation created by simply three builders: Nattland Interactive in Sweden and 707 Heaven in Norway, has been awarded the $10,000 grand prize.
Further finalists embody: Banyu, a comfortable crusing and scavenging recreation developed by Hotfix Labs, a crew from Indonesia; Sky Patch, a peaceable 3D farming platformer and puzzle journey the place gamers should revitalize quiet, floating islands, developed by Null Jam Video games, a global crew.
The profitable video games might be featured throughout the Inexperienced Video games Showcase at Summer time Video games Fest, airing June 7 at 1 p.m. Pacific time, spotlighting the following technology of climate-conscious creators.
“You possibly can sense the need for sincere, optimistic video games within the Solarpunk Jam’s submissions,” stated Dan Zubrzycki, Head of Video games at Day Zero Productions, in a press release. “Groups from Indonesia, South Africa, Norway, Colombia, and past handled the theme not simply as an aesthetic, however as an invite to interact the local weather disaster with hope and ingenuity. We’re excited to be in dialog with our winner and finalists about the place they need to take their tasks, and to maintain constructing community-driven occasions just like the Solarpunk Jam.”
Day Zero Video games: Solarpunk Jam launched on Earth Day, April 22, 2025, and ran by Might 10, 2025, difficult builders to create authentic online game prototypes impressed by solarpunk — a rising literary and visible motion that envisions radical optimism, environmental stewardship, and social fairness.
“Solarpunk continues to be a reasonably nascent motion, and this recreation jam has helped push the motion ahead, demonstrating how video video games can carry its beliefs to life” stated Karla Reyes, founder and inventive director at Anima Interactive, in a press release. “Video games supply a uniquely fertile floor to discover the complexities of local weather justice, neighborhood resilience, and brighter futures – by narrative, techniques, aesthetics, and energetic participant participation. It’s unimaginable to see what the individuals achieved in only some weeks, and we hope that this initiative can encourage extra creators thinking about imagining and constructing a solarpunk world.”
The jam was sponsored by Cinereach, a narrative lab behind acclaimed movies like Marcel the Shell with Footwear On and Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Carmack Collective, a fund that helps catalyzing transformative change within the pursuit of local weather justice.
Forward of the sport jam, individuals obtained a story blueprint developed by Cinereach in collaboration with Good Power, offering local weather analysis and storytelling instruments designed with enter from scientists and frontline communities.
“We’re so impressed with how these good recreation builders interpreted the narrative blueprints to think about hopeful, regenerative new worlds within the face of local weather change,” stated Candice McFarlane, chief artistic officer at Cinereach, in a press release. “These creators have introduced the insights to life in thrilling, inspiring ways in which present video games have the ability to assist form our future whereas being a pleasure to play. We’re extremely proud to champion these tasks alongside Day Zero and Anima.”
With world participation, cross-cultural collaboration, and highly effective storytelling, the outcomes of Day Zero Video games: Solarpunk Jam show the rising urge for food for tales that problem dystopia with magnificence, pleasure, and ecological creativeness.
Watch the winners on the Summer time Video games Fest Inexperienced Video games Showcase on June seventh at 1pm PST and discover the complete assortment of submissions on itch.io.
Day Zero Productions is a three way partnership between Trevor Noah and Paramount World. Its Gaming division collaborates carefully with the corporate’s movie and tv tasks to take a 360-degree strategy to storytelling. Along with trans-media initiatives, DZP produces authentic interactive experiences like JokeNite with Epic Video games, and helps the broader business by strategic investments, together with a seed spherical in Midsummer Studios, based by Firaxis veteran and XCOM creator Jake Solomon.
Anima Interactive is a brand new socially aware unbiased video games and immersive media studio that blends artwork and know-how to ignite optimistic cultural change. We’re at present creating Take Us North, a story journey that immerses gamers within the poignant journeys of migrants and asylum seekers on their approach to cross the US-Mexico border. Study extra at www.anima-interactive.com.
Cinereach is a not-for-profit story lab advancing tales that spark curiosity, empathy and company. We’re working to revolutionize the narrative course of, enhancing how tales are made and consumed, and bridging the hole between social influence storytelling and well-liked leisure in movie, tv, and rising media. Initially based in 2006 as a movie basis and manufacturing firm, Cinereach has supported greater than 200 beloved and acclaimed movies, together with Academy Award Greatest Image-nominees Beasts of the Southern Wild and Marcel the Shell with Footwear On. Study extra at Cinereach.org.
With an annual grantmaking funds of roughly $1.5 million, The Carmack Collecntive focuses on two main methods: Motion Constructing and Tradition Change. The fund helps frontline organizations and cultural initiatives that problem the fossil gas business’s dominance, aiming to shift narratives and empower communities most affected by environmental injustices. Emphasizing transparency and power-sharing, the Collective employs trust-based philanthropy practices, together with multi-year, unrestricted funding and minimal utility necessities, to make sure that sources are allotted successfully and equitably.
