America 2049

Public RelationsThought Leadership
Written By Maura White

Challenge

America 2049 is a groundbreaking alternate reality game on Facebook from Breakthrough that presents a near-future America at a dangerous crossroads. Human rights are in peril; democracy is on the brink of destruction. It was the first Facebook game to use transmedia — integrating the social networking platform with many other resources, online and off: multimedia and interactive features, clues planted across the Internet, and real-life events at leading cultural institutions nationwide. The game featured appearances by Harold Perrineau (LOST), Victor Garber (Alias), Cherry Jones (24), Anthony Rapp (Rent), and Margaret Cho (Notorious C.H.O.), who generously donated their time to help put a face on complex issues.

In the game, players are agents of the Council on American Heritage. Tasked with the capture of a presumed terrorist, players are sent into high-risk situations that challenge them to ask: How close are we already to America 2049? How can we work together—in real life—to build a better future?

Solution

Leverage the power of pop culture, A-list talent, the game’s unique transmedia gameplay, and world-mirroring storylines to secure placements in gaming, consumer, technology, social, and media outlets to attract players into the game, stir-up dialogue about human rights in our current landscape, and engage about how we can change our world for the better.

Process

America 2049 contained a narrative-driven, episodic game (with new storylines released in weekly installments during the 12-week launch). Breakthrough engaged game players on human rights issues and instances of social injustice in a different way. This presented the opportunity to engage with the media on a rolling basis, depending on key moments in gameplay, real-life events, or the current issues that were taking place on the domestic stage. Current real-life 2011 issues tied to sexual orientation and identity, reproductive rights, immigration, labor rights, sex trafficking, and other human rights issues had direct ties to the proposed future state presented in America 2049. This allowed ongoing engagement with media featuring a talented cast, human rights experts, and a set of creatives to call upon whenever a deeper conversation was desired.

Outcome

Successful and positive media placements about America 2049 appeared across top-tier outlets in all of the targeted segments, including The Atlantic, Fast Company, TIME, Salon, The New Yorker, BUST, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Life, and a steady stream of gaming media. The game was featured at E3! (Entertainment Electronics Expo!), nominated for a Games For Change award, and nominated for a Katerva award. It was also later featured in a TEDx Talk by one of the game’s storytellers.

Breakthrough secured more than 20,000 users who logged on to the America 2049 Facebook site during the game’s 12-week duration (April-June 2011). Many general comments in the media and player forums about gameplay and narratives were positive. Players enjoyed searching for puzzle pieces, decoding ciphers, and many agreed that the game was an effective way to present the issues Breakthrough was addressing. To evaluate the game’s effectiveness as a tool for mobilizing real-world action, Breakthrough partnered with the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) as an independent evaluator to analyze its engagement.

“It’s important to us to move beyond conventions, to really look at the fabric of values that underlines human rights, and engage a community of people across issues and across identities.”
— Mallika Dutt, Breakthrough’s founder and president.urce
Maura White
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