“Fate of the World” climate change game to include real prediction models from Oxford

26 April 2010

University of Oxford climate change expert Dr Myles Allen has provided state-of-the-art climate science for Oxfordshire games company Red Redemption’s "Fate of the World" game – currently scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2010. Dr Allen’s consultancy to the company was arranged by Oxford University Consulting, a division of Isis Innovation, the University’s technology transfer company.

"Fate of the World" is a nail biting set of global warming scenarios covering 200 years of Earth’s existence. The game lets players explore the next two centuries, trying out geoengineering, fusion power, wildlife adaptation, and many other brain teasing and sometimes alarming, options. The player must manage a balancing act of protecting the Earth's resources and climate versus the needs of an ever-growing world population, who are demanding ever more food, power, and living space.

At the heart of the game are 10 'Masterplans' where the player calls the shots for all mankind including 'Apocalypse' where the goal is to raise the planet’s temperature to a lethal degree; 'Lifeboat' where the goal is to save only the player while abandoning everyone else to whatever catastrophes await them; and 'Utopia' where a player can try to build a perfect society while battling population growth.

It is a sequel to the successful "Climate Challenge" game developed by Red Redemption and sponsored by the BBC, which has been played by nearly 1 million people since its launch in 2007.

Dr Allen is project leader on ClimatePrediction.net, a program that lets interested people from around the world take part in climate modelling. "Fate of the World" uses a model reviewed in Nature (April 2009) - the international weekly journal of science.

Dr Allen said: "Providing science for games is a new field for me, but public engagement with the issues surrounding climate change is vital and games are a great way of reaching millions of people."

Ian Roberts, designer of "Fate of the World" said: "Accurate real-world data is used in many videogames. Take a motor racing game, you need to know how a car responds when a player brakes or turns too sharply. A climate based game is similar but you can't test drive the climate. So we needed the expertise of a real scientist. That's why Dr Allen’s input is so important."

Oxford University Consulting was approached by Dr Allen after he and a former colleague who works for Red Redemption discussed how to provide realistic climate change calculations for the games outcomes.

"The aim of Oxford University Consulting is to help business access the right experts, and to help academics engage with industry. The work of the environmental and climate change experts at Oxford is very relevant to a whole range of groups, and Dr Allen’s consultancy is just one example of business accessing this expertise through a consultancy arrangement," said Steve Lee, head of Oxford University Consulting.

For More Information:

UK: Gobion Rowlands, CIO/Communications Director, Red Redemption
T +44 (0)1865 596160
E gobion@red-redemption.com

USA: Stuart Rowlands, Red Redemption
T +1 323 850 1088
E stuart@red-redemption.com

Steve Lee, Head of Oxford University Consulting
E steve.lee@isis.ox.ac.uk

For Isis Press Enquiries

Renate Krelle, Business Relationship Manager
E renate.krelle@isis.ox.ac.uk

About Oxford University Consulting and Isis Innovation

Oxford University Consulting (OUC) is a division of the University’s technology transfer company Isis Innovation and provides access to experts across the full breadth of the University’s research.

Isis Innovation is the University of Oxford's technology transfer company and manages the University's intellectual property portfolio, working with University researchers on identifying, protecting and marketing technologies through licensing, spin-out company formation and material sales. Isis files on average one new patent application each week, has concluded over 400 technology licensing agreements, and established 64 new spin-out companies from Oxford. Isis also manages Oxford University Consulting, which arranges consulting services providing clients access to the world-class expertise of the University's academics to enhance innovative capability. Last year OUC arranged over 150 consulting deals. Isis has established a separate business division, Isis Enterprise, offering consulting expertise and advice in technology transfer and open innovation to university, government and industrial clients around the world. Isis was founded in 1987 and is today one of the world's leading technology transfer and innovation management companies.
www.isis-innovation.com

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