No Apologies Winner:  Dr. Jane McGonigal

April 6, 2009

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Jane McGonigal, Ph.D., takes play seriously. An award-winning technology innovator, she has designed leading-edge alternate reality games such as “World Without Oil,” a futuristic alternate-energy simulation, and “The Lost Ring,” a McDonald’s online game that Brandweek called the No. 1 “Bright Idea” of 2008.

“Alternate reality games represent a huge win-winwin scenario,” says McGonigal. “Players get a real-life adventure, make new friends, learn how to be a part of a collective intelligence and challenge themselves to do amazing things. And the companies that make these games part of their marketing strategy are unleashing a force for good – and nothing sells better than saving the world.”

Recognizing that gaming is much more than an entertainment medium, McGonigal focuses on how large-scale, multiplayer online gaming can generate collective intelligence that can be used to improve the quality of life or solve social problems. Her book, Reality is Broken (Penguin Press, 2010), will look at how games can save the real world.

“Game theorists talk about collaboration in terms of non-zero sum games or potential win-win scenarios,” she says. “We have to think even bigger that that.  That's why ‘collaborate or perish’ is the most important call to action for the next decade. We all need to learn how to play bigger, more complex, win-win games together.”

Born in the early 1970s as the first home videogame consoles came to market, McGonigal has played games her whole life and wrote her first program when she was 10 years old. For some time, she’s studied collaborative approaches to gaming and how playing with live opponents can create a sense of positive community. Her research and ideas have been cited in scholarly publications like MIT Review and Harvard Business Review.

And McGonigal isn’t afraid to take on the established ideas. “If people don't disagree vehemently with you at first, then you're not doing anything interesting,” she says. “So don't get into arguments about whether or not something will work. Just find a way to try it and see if you’re right.”

For more Changing the Game Awards Winners:

No Apologies Winner: Jacqueline Novogratz
No Apologies Winner: Katherine Jane Bryant
No Apologies Winner: Joslyn Barnes
Quantum Leap Winner: Nancy Smith
Paradigm Shift Winner: Esther "E.T" Franklin
Brainwave Winner: Sue Bostrom