Sojo Studios is announcing its first online social game, WeTopia, which is designed to be part of a series of games where players can have fun while doing good in the real world by raising money for children’s charities.
WeTopia is a free-to-play Facebook game where players create villages and help their neighbors. When players purchase virtual goods in the game, that results in a direct donation to a real world cause. Buying an in-game fountain, for instance, leads to a donation for clean water. Actual projects related to the donations have already begun in the U.S. and Haiti and will soon launch in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
But players don’t have even have to make purchases to to have an effect. They earn ”joy” points from viewing ads from sponsors, who then make donations to nonprofits that provide children and families with basic needs, healthcare, and education in the real world.
Lexington, Ky.-based Sojo Studios has lined up an impressive number of partners, including a variety of children’s charities and celebrities such as talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
Players can track their contributions inside the game through pictures, videos, blogs and in-game posts. The goal is to combine fun and tangible help, so that rewards in games are more than just a collection of points.
“With WeTopia, players can have fun with friends and family in-game, and experience the joy of supporting projects that help children in the real world. Best of all, players can see and track the progress of these real world projects,” said Lincoln Brown, founder and chief executive at Sojo Studios.
