Reliance joins forces in support of UNEP’s Tide Turners Programme to inspire youth
Bengaluru, June 22, 2022: In commemoration of the World Environment Day and the World Oceans Day, Reliance Games have come up with a unique initiative to raise awareness regarding the hazards of plastic among children and youth. In support of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) TIDE TURNERS PLASTIC CHALLENGE, a global initiative that engages youth to address the issue of plastic pollution threatening life in oceans, rivers, and on land, Reliance Games will highlight the problems of plastic pollution in video games, a first for the studio.
Little Singham 2022, a runner game with over 50 million downloads is running a new campaign informing players about the adverse effects of plastic on the environment by integrating new features where the players collect plastic bottles and win rewards. Discovery Kids’ most loved show, Little Singham has been winning hearts by emerging as one of the top Indian IPs in the animation genre on television since 2018. In no time, the character extended its fun and frolic in the gaming sphere and replicated the success by leading the charts on Play Store too.
The ‘Little Singham’ game has also integrated the World Environment Day “ONLY ONE EARTH” logo within the gameplay.
The Tide Turners youth programme has been backed by the Scout and Girl Guide movement worldwide, engaging some 500,000 youth in over 30 countries.
Atul Bagai, who leads UNEP’s office in India, said: “Awareness among the youth is critical to responding to the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity loss, and pollution, The gaming industry, with its vast reach, can play a significant role to engage young players in a fun way to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics”.
The collaboration is part of Playing for the Planet, launched in September 2019 at the UN Climate Summit, a push by UNEP to support the game industry to raise awareness about pressing environmental issues. Reliance Games/Zapak is one of the founding members along with Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Supercell.
“Games have the ability to engage, inspire and captivate the imaginations of kids with these initiatives,” said Amit Khanduja, CEO Reliance Entertainment – Digital. “The Mobile Games industry has to take the lead in the emerging markets to raise awareness among the next billion gamers coming online to lead the way for climate change.”
Uttam Pal Singh – Head of Discovery Kids, Warner Bros. Discovery said, “At Discovery kids, we believe we can create awareness and enthusiasm amongst kids about the environmental challenges and the impact of plastics on climate change through our marquee property, Little Singham. An inspiration to young children, Little Singham is brave, intelligent, responsible, and honest; he is an agent of change, and there could not be a better messenger to spread this message to the kids. We are proud to partner with Reliance Games for something that needs serious action and is also in sync with the traits of our beloved character and the larger network.”
