Code the Rights is an award for games that address human rights topics in an innovative way and raise awareness about social issues. The competition recognizes developers whose work helps better understand the problems of the contemporary world and reaches a broad audience, offering not just great entertainment but also a powerful message.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS GAME AWARDS 2024
Modern games play an essential role in shaping social awareness. Through the Code the Rights award, we aim to emphasize how important it is for media like video games to contribute to building empathy, understanding, and sensitivity towards human rights.
“We want to recognize creators who reflect the complexity and diversity of reality; those who don’t shy away from difficult global issues shaping our world, such as social inequalities, armed conflicts, migration, and refugee crises, but approach them with care and thoughtfulness. They use the power of media to present wise diagnoses, ask the right questions, and bring important topics into the public debate,” says Anna Błaszczak-Banasiak, Director of Amnesty International Poland.
We want to recognize creators who reflect the complexity and diversity of reality; those who don’t shy away from difficult global issues shaping our world, such as social inequalities, armed conflicts, migration, and refugee crises, but approach them with care and thoughtfulness.
Anna Błaszczak-Banasiak, Director of Amnesty International Poland
“Code the Rights was born in Poland, where the gaming industry shows exceptional innovation and strength, creating a unique opportunity to channel this energy into action for human rights,” says Jakub Szymczak, Campaign Coordinator at Amnesty International Poland. “The project aims not only to highlight existing games that effectively engage with human rights aspects but also to inspire young developers to explore important issues in their future projects. Our efforts aim to encourage emerging creators to boldly combine entertainment with social themes, showing that games can be a powerful tool for change – globally.”
THE FIRST EDITION
The Code the Rights award will be presented for the first time in 2024.
The Best Game Award will be given to a game released between August 2023 and August 2024 that fully addresses the theme of human rights, presenting it thoughtfully, engagingly, and authentically. Both the narrative and the way players interact with the game’s themes will be evaluated.
The Special Award will be granted for a particularly interesting element of the game – this could be a side story, innovative technological solution, creative approach to difficult topics, or other features that contribute to promoting human rights values. A special award may also be given to a game that makes an exceptionally accurate commentary on a pressing human rights crisis or global challenge regardless of its release date. The award is given by the Amnesty International team only.
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