Gamer Guildhall

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

While many may regard this as a season of spending time with and giving gifts to family and loved ones, the true meaning of Christmas is much deeper. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, who is the Son of God. His birth marked the entrance of salvation into the world and hope for all mankind to be redeemed from sin. If you're wondering why this is important, it's because all of us have made wrong (often selfish) choices in life that separate us from God. Sin also carries a penalty of death, which is an eternity of that separation from God in a very real place of torment known as Hell. Jesus' perfect life and sacrifice on the cross paid the price for that sin and allows us to once again have a relationship with God the Father. It marks the day the world realized the free gift we've received through Jesus to become part of God's family again.

This is an important message to share and Christians all over the world have utilized various types of multimedia to do so. In the world of gaming, Christian Games has been a recognized category for multiple decades. If you are interested in seeing a history of these types of games, Monkastery Studios has created an Evolution of Christian Video Games (1982 - 2021) compilation video. As we move forward towards 2022, various projects are already underway to promote the Gospel through this venue and build upon what has come before. Let's take a look at some of these initiatives:

GODSQUAD CHURCH

An actual church? Yes, that's right! Founded in 2016, GodSquad Church is the world's first church for gamers and is dedicated to helping gamers win in life. They broadcast their live service each Saturday at 1:30 PM Eastern on Twitch, with a re-broadcast of the same service later in the evening at 7:30 PM Eastern. Throughout the week they have Daily Reconnect broadcasts and many of the pastors are frequent game streamers with their own channels. This is a church that gets gaming.

As the livestreaming industry has grown over the years, strong competitors to Twitch have arisen. Moving into 2022, GodSquad Church has discussed their intention of streaming on additional platforms. This is a move that many streamers have been making when examining their community reach. It will allow GSC to connect with different audiences, effectively increasing the number of people whom will be able to hear the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. It's a big task, but fortunately there are a growing number of Christian streamers amongst these various platforms taking on this same mission.

CHRISTIAN GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE

Without video games, most streamers would have very little content to their streams. But who makes these games? The gaming industry is incredibly large, exhibiting global reach across a multitude of demographics. Numerous Christian developers have made the foray into this field to create games that teach about Christianity and the Gospel message. To help connect Christians within the development industry, the Christian Game Developers Conference was formed to help provide a method of communication and training between such individuals. Each year, the conference gathers at a physical location and developers are able to interact with one another, attend seminars, and exchange information.

In addition to this yearly event, the CGDC has begun developing its own games by way of volunteers. The first game, Dreams and Nightmares, was released as a free multiplayer open public beta available on Steam as of May 2021. They have since been working on their second game in development, titled Space Beastz. These games carry Biblical messages, using Biblical references to highlight Scriptural points. These projects also enable developers of all skill level to practice their craft, learn some new talents, and make connections amongst others of similar faith and passion in the group.

SCATTERED WISDOM

In addition to the above conference, there are also many talented independent developers with visions of how to reach people with the Gospel message by way of video games. One such individual goes by the name MissionaryGamer. If you've ever seen the ChapterVerse bot on Twitch, a bot that shares Scriptural text when the passage is referenced in chat, he's the guy behind it. As an evangelist, MissionaryGamer has launched the MissionaryGamer Ministry and has used video games to try and reach people all over the world with the truth of Jesus Christ. As a developer, he has seen that the industry itself has become more focused on things that are contradictory to Biblical values and has felt the need to create games with God-honoring content.

A major undertaking, Scattered Wisdom is being developed as an open world MMORPG within Unreal Engine 5. The premise is that a powerful artificial intelligence designed to help humanity has misinterpreted Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. The AI concluded that to make mankind happy, it should destroy all recorded knowledge. Players must work together against the AI to retrieve Scriptures that have been hidden across the world. This game is in continued development and currently open to donations to help fund its growth.

'TIS THE SEASON

This is by no means a comprehensive list of projects, but rather a sampling of the types of efforts being made by Christians within video games and the gaming industry. It is an undertaking to reach those who may never otherwise hear the Gospel message in an environment that is familiar to them. There are certainly critics to these methods, both from non-Christians who don't want Christianity in video games and from Christians who are simply opposed to video games all together. Regardless of the opposition, video game enthusiasts with a passion for Christ continue to make use of this industry to reach others and tell them about the hope for salvation we have. It is the hope that was brought into this world with the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the reason for the Christmas season.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I love hearing about new efforts and projects within the gaming community to share the Christian message. If you have information or projects you'd like to share, please tag @WulfTheAdventurer or @GamerGuildhall in the Christian Gamers group on Gab!