Day Zero Productions, the Los Angeles-based production company founded by Trevor Noah, is launching a new game jam with Anima Interactive and Cinereach.

Indie video game studio Anima Interactive has teamed up with Day Zero to unveil the inaugural video game competition — Day Zero Games: Solarpunk Jam — a climate-themed global game jam awarding a $10,000 grand prize.

The initiative is sponsored by Cinereach, a not-for-profit story lab behind Academy Award nominated films Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Beasts of the Southern Wild. It is also supported by community partners within the global game development ecosystem, including International Game Developers Association (IGDA), Black in Gaming Foundation, Latinx in Gaming, and Games for Change. 

Following Day Zero’s recent announcement of its investment in gaming startup Midsummer Studios, the game jam signals the company’s growing commitment to supporting innovative storytelling and indie creators in the gaming space. 

“Indie games are fertile environments to push creative boundaries in our industry”, remarks Dan Zubrzycki, head of games at Day Zero, in a statement. “Our team’s name, Day Zero, has its roots in the climate conversation. It’s an issue close to Trevor’s heart. With this Solarpunk Game Jam, we’re tapping into that spirit to reimagine the climate conversation — not with fear, but with creativity, resilience, and joy. The future needs more than warnings; it needs worldbuilders brave enough to imagine a better tomorrow.”

Day Zero Productions takes its name from the water shortage crisis in Cape Town, South Africa that occurred between 2015 and 2018 — an origin that reflects the studio’s climate consciousness. Day Zero Games: Solarpunk Jam invites developers around the world to imagine hopeful and optimistic climate futures inspired by the solarpunk literary and art movement.

Last year, Anima Interactive an...