It’s time to protect the environment and fight off eco-adversaries while playing with Facebook friends in independent studio Talkie’s green gaming innovation Ecotopia™, which opens in public beta on April 22, 2011.
Uniting interactive entertainment and philanthropy, Ecotopia offers social gamers compelling gameplay and engaging missions in a free-to-play city-building format. Developed in collaboration with Conservation International (CI), Ecotopia advances environmental awareness and encourages players to better their communities through in-game incentives and rewards.
In Ecotopia players initially find themselves in an eco-themed hero-versus-villains challenge in an unsustainable city. Through in-game quests and face-offs with adversaries, they gather resources to clean up and beautify their city, creating a personal digital paradise. Once players transform their maps they can utilize their collected resources to visit neighboring areas and help friends.
"Ecotopia aims to change the way people everywhere view philanthropy,” said Larry Bond, chairman of Talkie. "By opening the game to the public we are able to share a new way for users to be eco-friendly in their day-to-day lives. During our open beta period, we look forward to continuing to grow Ecotopia introducing more new and exciting features on a regular basis.”
Players will be able to perform real-world acts of sustainability and upload photos and video to earn significant in-game bonuses; a ground-breaking feature for a Facebook game. As Ecotopia is updated, fans can encourage their friends to confirm, or “social-proof,” their real-world actions to earn additional points. Players also will have access to Ecotopia TV, where they will be able to view video clips from Conservation International which propose hopeful, innovative solutions to environmental challenges, as well as participate in green contests, either by voting on videos from other players or uploading their own.
"Talkie was founded to carve out a new niche in social gaming,” said Chris Swain, founder and CEO of Talkie, and a professor and research institute director at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, Interactive Media division. “By developing Ecotopia in collaboration with Conservation International, we have been able to create an entirely original gaming experience on Facebook to encourage players to examine the state of the earth and act to make a positive impact, while interacting with friends.”
Ecotopia is now available in open beta. Sign up to play now on the Ecotopia Facebook page, or visit Talkie’s official website for more information.
