Citizens have discovered that the United States Government is investing significant funds into what they are calling “counter-disinformation” games. A funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of State reveals that $275,000 was allocated by the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands for this initiative. The project involves several specifications:
1. Producing an English- and Dutch-language pilot version of a counter-disinformation game.
2. Creating a French version of the game.
3. Producing one additional translation into a European, Asian, or African language, to be determined later.
4. Hosting the game on the company’s own servers.
5. Developing and implementing data collection and analysis methodologies to demonstrate the project’s achievement of expected results.
6. Promoting the games to target audiences.
Disinformation has increasingly become a global concern with countries like the United States, China, and Russia attempting to control prevailing narratives. This raises the question of who gets to decide what constitutes disinformation and what doesn’t.
Gamers have grown skeptical of overt propaganda and social messaging in video games from all political perspectives. It’s plausible that this cynicism will extend to any game developed from this funding. The financial support was offered in 2021, indicating that games produced through this program are likely to be released soon, if they haven’t been already.
