Former Playmob CEO Jude
Ower becomes Sphaira Innovation UK CSO
New alliance comes as Sphaira's PlanetPlay launches Make
Green Tuesday Moves campaign and ahead of new collective UNDP
initiative
LONDON, May 14, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Sphaira Innovation, a not-for-profit
harnessing the power of people and technology to make positive
change, has acquired video games market insights specialist
Playmob.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, creates a formal relationship
between Playmob and Sphaira Innovation's PlanetPlay, which is
bringing the games industry and players together to fight climate
change.
Playmob CEO Jude Ower – who now
becomes Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Sphaira UK – has worked
closely with PlanetPlay on the launch of its Make Green Tuesday
Moves campaign, which aims to help games studios and players make
important real-world impact in the fight against climate
change.
Alongside PlanetPlay CEO Rhea
Loucas, Ower also recently led a games industry delegation
to the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Climate Promise event at
UN HQ in New York – an initiative
to support countries as they increase their climate action
contributions.
Meanwhile, Ower is also the Co-Founder of the Playing For The
Planet Alliance and Co-Author of the recently published book
"Gaming for Good: Unlocking the Power of Gaming to Create a Better
World for Us All," which also supports green projects via
PlanetPlay.
And in 2021, she worked with the UNDP on the "People's Climate
Vote," the biggest survey of consumer attitudes towards climate
change, which was facilitated through Playmob's innovative game
insights platform and reached 33 million gamers worldwide. The
survey had 1.2 million validated votes in 50 countries around the
world.
She is speaking this week at the UK Government's Department for
Business & Trade GREAT FUTURES event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she is discussing
how the UK video games industry can work with Saudi Arabia in areas such as gaming and
sustainability. She is joined at the event by Sphaira Innovation UK
Chairman and Sphaira Innovation AG Board Member Dirk van Daele.
Working alongside PlanetPlay under the Sphaira Innovation
umbrella, Playmob is again working with the UNDP on a new and even
more ambitious international study of whether people consider
climate change to be a global emergency, and how they would like
their countries to tackle the issue.
Sphaira Innovation UK CSO Jude Ower said:
"Playmob's mission is closely aligned with PlanetPlay, and we
are delighted to announce that we are merging our important
efforts, and Playmob is being acquired by PlanetPlay. Through the
projects we have been working on together, it is clear that our
partnership is a strong move for our industry and pushing the
sustainability x gaming agenda forward. PlanetPlay and Sphaira is
the right home for Playmob and we are excited for the next part of
our green gaming journey together."
Sphaira Innovation UK Chairman & Sphaira Innovation AG
Board Member Dirk van Daele offered: "After having been
accepted by major game studios and music artists in supporting our
not-for-profit eco donate platform, we are excited for Playmob and
Jude to join us. Her efforts and established track record in
'playing for good' will help us to scale even faster for the
benefit of the climate."
PlanetPlay CEO Rhea
Loucas added: "PlanetPlay as a disruptive NPO is
constantly seeking innovative solutions for engaging billions of
gamers as part of our mission to combat climate change. We have
already been working closely for a long time with Playmob and
Jude Ower on a few exciting
projects; with the acquisition, we will be able to join forces and
achieve our goal together. With three billion players around the
world, and through the combination of our gaming and sustainability
efforts, we can all collectively make a difference for our
planet."
To download supporting image assets, click here.
To find out more about Playmob's work with the UNDP on the People's
Climate Vote click here.
To find out more about PlanetPlay's Make Green Tuesday Moves
initiative, click here.
About PlanetPlay
PlanetPlay, the first climate conscious games marketplace, is a
not-for-profit digital platform that allows everyone around the
world to contribute to climate action through in-game purchases and
gameplay with affiliated game studios. PlanetPlay is a unique
platform through which to inspire, educate and mobilize players in
support of the planet. They are committed to unlocking the
potential of green initiatives through the Games Industry. The
games industry has enormous potential to support positive climate
action globally. Having driven over $2.2
million in climate project funding in its first year,
PlanetPlay is partnering with the world's forward thinking games
studios to fight the climate crisis and are constantly developing
new initiatives to launch. For more information,
visit www.planetplay.com.
About Playmob
Playmob is a market insights platform harnessing the power of
gaming to understand what people think, feel and value over time.
We reach billions of people from all corners of the planet by
engaging them with games that entertain, education and excite, to
learn what they care about and value. We see a world where gaming
gives organizations and individuals insights that allow them to
make better decisions for themselves and for the planet. Our
mission is to unlock billions of actions that positively impact
global issues. Playmob is also a proud founding member of the
Playing For The Planet Alliance. Find out more at
www.playmob.com.
About Sphaira Innovation
Sphaira Innovation AG was founded in November 2021 in Zug, Switzerland. It was established as a
not-for-profit company supporting positive changes to the world. We
believe purpose unites us, with our unique business model,
everyone, every moment, every effort should be celebrated and we
shall make the world a better place. Sphaira Innovation Ltd (UK) is
a fully owned subsidiary of Sphaira Innovation AG. Find out more at
www.sphaira-innovation.com.
Photo:
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2412234/Jude_Ower_Sphaira_UK.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2412235/Sphaira_and_Playmob_Logo.jpg
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/playmob-acquired-by-planetplay-parent-to-create-new-green-video-games-powerhouse-302144880.html
SOURCE Sphaira Innovation