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The Idea

Emergence is a massively multiplayer pro-social evolutionary game for
youth, aiming to combine the excitement and global reach of games like
League of Legends with the inspiration and real-world action of activist
networks like Avaaz. Emergence infuses a mythic, tribal dimension into
large-scale collaboration, empowering young people with energy and optimism
to dream together in a creative digital environment and to do together
side-by-side in altruistic real-world projects.

The Issue

Born at the dawn of the new century, the emerging Generation Z is now
coming of age in a fragmented world of mounting crises. Idealistic,
pragmatic, and fully wired, Gen Z’ers are motivated by meaningful work, but
are the first to admit that they lack focus.1 While they universally enjoy
computer gaming, they prefer in-person communication and communal
experience.2 What they need is a platform that connects the dots,
harnessing their civic spirit towards achieving ambitious collective goals.3

The Approach

We plan to engage youth by producing a series of short, inspiring, online
videos that contain a call to action based on game design principles.
Combined with a cloud-based multiplayer gaming platform, they will engage
youth to enter our online environment as a catalyst for selecting and
solving real-world problems together. A story-based shared mythology will
guide the formation of heroic online identities, supported by actual group
accomplishments.

The Opportunity

A staggering 97% of 12-17 year-olds play computer games, 65% of them in the
same room as a shared social experience. And 60% of them express a
commitment to civic participation and charitable work. Together, these
factors suggest a recipe for combine their strong interests in a hybrid
virtual/actual tribal experience of engagement. And the rise of augmented
reality devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens and Google Glass provide an ideal
new technological ecosystem.

The Model

The main expense of an MMOG is a people-intensive customer service
infrastructure requiring game facilitators which guide and lead play -- in
our case, this will be replaced by volunteer facilitator/leaders, motivated
by ideology and socially-reinforcing game structures. Sustaining revenues
will come from an in-game virtual economy, corporate sponsorships for
projects, and crowdfunding for projects (players can contribute either
time or money to accomplishing goals, or be sponsored as in a Walk-a-thon).

The Team

Ben Phelan, Martin Polanco


The Ask

$250K in Seed Funding. Use-of-proceeds over the initial 6-month start-up
period:

Consultants (Technology, Gamification, Business Modeling): 3 X 6K = $18K
Creating Business Plan & Financial Model: 3 months X 5K = $15K
Branding, Logo, Style Guide: $6K/mo. x 3 months = $18K
Inspiring Short Videos: 2 X 3 min @ 2.5K/min = $15K
MVP Web Application: $24K/mo. X 6 months = $144K
iPhone & Android applications: $20K/each = $40K

Total: $250K

The Outputs

The outputs would be a Minimum Viable Product website, mobile apps for iOS
and Android, two inspiring videos, branding elements (logo, identity), and
a business plan with pro forma for Series A investors. What this number
would not provide would be marketing, although a significant component of
outreach will occur organically via social media and through strategic
partnerships with the Global Poverty Project, Generation Waking Up,
Pachamama Alliance and other youth-oriented social impact organizations.


(1) 24% are primarily motivated by meaningful work; 37% feel they lack focus
(2) 97% of teens play computer games, yet 53% percent prefer in-person
communication
(3) 60% of teens are interested in politics, charitable work, and express a
sense of commitment to civic participatio