Games as a Site of Political Struggle

Games do not exist in a vacuum. They are created within and reflect broader social, economic, and political contexts. The IPCG explicitly positions itself in solidarity with social movements fighting for a more just world. We understand that capitalism is intertwined with systems of oppression like white supremacy, patriarchy, and colonialism. Therefore, a truly post-capitalist gaming practice must also be anti-racist, feminist, queer-affirming, and decolonial. Our projects often serve as tools for these movements, and our internal practices are designed to challenge these intersecting hierarchies.

Collaborative Projects with Movement Organizations

We partner with activist groups, unions, and community organizations to create games that serve their needs. This might be a simulation game for a tenant union to practice organizing strategies, a narrative game for a climate justice group that personalizes the data of climate migration, or a resource-management game for a mutual aid network. These projects are developed collaboratively, with the movement organization setting the goals and providing domain expertise, while our co-ops provide technical and design skills. The resulting games are owned by the community they serve, used for training, outreach, and internal education.

Internal Practices: Anti-Oppression and Liberation

Within the IPCG network, we have active committees dedicated to anti-oppression work. We run mandatory workshops on topics like unconscious bias, transformative justice, and inclusive communication. Our cooperative governance structures include caucuses for marginalized members (e.g., a BIPOC caucus, a queer caucus) to ensure their voices are heard and centered in decision-making. We use consent-based processes for collaboration and have clear, community-held protocols for addressing harm or conflict. Building a post-capitalist world requires building new social relations, and we strive to model those relations in our daily work.

Amplifying Marginalized Voices and Histories

Our curation, preservation, and development efforts prioritize games and stories from marginalized communities. We fund and support projects by developers of color, queer developers, and developers from the Global South. Our game jams often have themes that center these experiences (e.g., "Games of the African Diaspora," "Trans Futures"). By doing so, we actively work to counter the homogenizing force of the commercial market, which often flattens or exoticizes difference. We believe that the richest visions of a post-capitalist future will come from those who have been most harmed by the current system, and our role is to help platform and materialize those visions through interactive media.