Green Guardians VR
For people under 25, the climate crisis feels abstract, distressing or both. We want to change that! SWR and Pixelcloud dare to do climate journalism with action, teamwork and humour — playfully conveying facts and media literacy.
Audience research
According to a study by the SKOPOS Institute commissioned by SWR, adolescents aged 12–20 hardly see climate change as a relevant part of their lives. After Covid and the events in Ukraine, the climate crisis is perceived as a side issue — many feel helpless, believing there is nothing they can do about it.
After several interdisciplinary workshops with scientists and journalists, plus user testing with the target group, the concept for “Green Guardians VR” was born — to shake young people out of their lethargy and get them excited about climate change again.
Our mission
With fun, action, lightness and humour we want to spark a young audience’s interest in the most important issue shaping our future: global warming. Instead of feeling alone and helpless, players join forces in action-oriented co-op multiplayer gameplay to fight the main causes of global warming — embedded in a gripping story that uses satire to make you laugh.
Our goal: for players to draw courage and knowledge to tackle the real problems, too.
The story
The vice president of mega-corporation E.V.I.L. (played by YouTuber LeFloid) invites players to travel to a future where everything is supposedly rosy — despite unchecked climate change. But it quickly turns out that maybe not everything is as perfect as it seems …
Rebel Alena (played by influencer ItzJanina) hacks into the system to expose E.V.I.L.’s fake news. Now it’s up to the players to break through the propaganda machine, hold their own against fossil-fuel drones and escape the corporation — and ultimately save the world!
The release
Green Guardians VR celebrated its spectacular premiere at Gamescom 2024 at the ARD booth and was nominated for the Gamescom Award. Enthusiastic players formed long queues to try the game, and international press and YouTubers sang its praises.
Alongside Blautopf VR, Green Guardians VR is the second virtual reality title we were able to develop together with German broadcaster SWR.
Play for free now
The virtual reality adventure is available on SteamVR and in the Meta Quest Store.
