Game Changers
An XR theatre production exploring climate activism through live performance and real-time audience interaction.
About the Project
Game Changers was a free-to-play interactive show merging extended reality, live theatre and gaming to put audiences inside a climate crisis story.
Set in the fictional town of Greenview, three young activists and their AI companion ECO worked to combat environmental collapse — with online audiences shaping the narrative in real time through live chat decisions.
Produced by Megaverse in collaboration with XR Stories, UKRI, University of Leeds, AMP Proto, and Pitstop Productions. Vital Culture UK was brought in as Co-Producer by XR Stories, contributing to early development, workshops and audience interactivity design.
How It Worked
Actors were fully motion-captured, performing live inside a game engine environment
15 unique 3D environments built to bring Greenview to life
Audiences joined as data points for ECO, influencing character decisions through live chat
A custom virtual camera system allowed real-time switching between seven viewpoints
Broadcast director controlled the cinematic experience live as it unfolded
Why It Matters
Game Changers demonstrated what becomes possible when theatre, gaming and XR stop treating each other as separate disciplines. The audience interactivity model — chat-based decisions feeding directly into live performance — drew directly from the emerging field of live-action interactive formats that Vital Culture UK had been developing through Vital Stories.
The project is available to watch at playgamechangers.com.
