What if you could turn real-world investigations into games? 🔎 👩🏻‍💻🎮

Welcome to Floodlight Gaming - where investigative journalism transforms into interactive storytelling.

We’re back with the 2nd Investigative Journalism Game Jam, inviting developers from around the world to build games inspired by investigative reporting on organized crime, corruption, and global systems of power.

Participants will gain access to a curated catalog of investigative stories from OCCRP’s global network - stories that go far beyond headlines.

Some headlines from this year's catalog:

• Smuggling History Across Borders, A network of dealers uses fake identities, forged ownership records, and shell companies to move looted Egyptian antiquities through the UAE into Europe, eventually selling them to major museums in France and the United States.
  
  
• A Town vs. Crypto In Paraguay, a small town takes on a foreign-backed crypto mining operation that kept residents awake for months,  leading to the country’s first court case against a crypto company and exposing how global tech extracts costs from local communities.
  
  
• The Dirty Truth Behind Europe’s Trade in Secondhand Clothes: Millions of tons of secondhand clothing leave Europe each year - but where do they really go? A data-driven investigation uncovers a circular trade that exports waste, exploits labor, and undermines climate goals.

Prize & Opportunities

- 💵 $5,000 USD
- ⬆️ A spot in Spielfabrique's Launchpad Accelerator Programme
- 👩🏻‍💻 Free membership for Global Game Jam's recently launched Indie Studio Supporter Program: https://globalgamejam.org/news/indie-studios-join-growing-ggj-community-year-rou...
- 🎮 Showcase opportunities at the INDIGO Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands this June!

About Floodlight

Floodlight Gaming is an arm of Floodlight: Fiction in the Public Interest, which connects investigative reporting with the film and television industries for adaptations into rich stories.

Created by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the world’s largest investigative journalism organization, and the Gabo Foundation, founded by Gabriel García Márquez to promote journalism and literature, Floodlight is a new approach to storytelling.

Floodlight sources the best investigations from across OCCRP’s global network of journalists and the world to deliver to the film and gaming industries to create entertainment that brings these stories to light for mass audiences.

What is Floodlight: Gaming in the Public Interest?

Floodlight: Gaming in the Public Interest is an initiative to generate new interactive media experiences and games from  top-notch investigative reporting about global organized crime and corruption.

What is the Investigative Journalism Game Jam?

It's an international game jam that gives game developers exclusive access to untold details and stories behind top-notch investigative reporting about global organized crime and corruption.

Who can participate in the Jam?

Interested participants should register for the jam via our Typeform, and may participate after agreeing to our terms & conditions.

What kind of stories will be available to game creators?

Teams will receive the Floodlight Gaming Catalog, featuring exclusive stories drawn from real investigative reporting around the world. Topics include tracing looted antiquities through global smuggling networks, uncovering how donated clothing fuels a hidden international waste trade, exposing propaganda pipelines embedded in media institutions, and investigating the systems of surveillance, finance, and power shaping our world.

Can we ask questions to the journalists?

Yes, game creators will be able to ask questions to the journalists behind the reporting during the game jam window through Discord.

Are there any security requirements?

Due to security reasons, all participants must sign the terms and conditions, which includes a confidentiality agreement, as the materials and information disclosed by journalists may be sensitive and previously undisclosed.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Anyone 18 and older can participate in the Jam. No previous game development experience is required.

We welcome participants of all kinds and strongly encourage marginalized creators to participate. Employees, contractors, directors, and officers of the Organizer and Sponsors are not eligible to participate.

All prototype submissions must be uploaded to itch.io by the submission deadline. By submitting, Participants agree to be bound by Itch.io’s Terms of Service and these Terms and Conditions.

Each Submission must meet the following requirements:

●  The Submission must be the original work of the Participant or Participant’s team created during the Jam period.

●  No generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) technologies may be used in the creation of your Submission, including all final game assets or code. This includes temporary or placeholder assets. Projects that include AI-generated assets will be disqualified.

●  All assets used in the Submission must belong to the Participant(s) or be used under an appropriate license. Participants agree to provide proof of all licensed assets upon submission of projects.

●  Submissions must include the full name and role of each team member.

●  Each Participant or Participant team may submit only one (1) Submission to the Jam.

●  Participants may not impersonate another person or submit anything on another person’s behalf without their written permission, which you agree to provide to the Organizer upon request.

●  Participants must refrain from submitting games centered around gratuitous violence or abuse. To maintain integrity to the journalists' stories, violence can be depicted, but shouldn’t be sensationalized or glorified.

Sponsors reserve the right to verify eligibility and to adjudicate on any dispute at any time. All eligibility determinations shall be made by Sponsors in their sole discretion.

Failure to comply with these eligibility criteria, or any misrepresentation, will result in immediate disqualification and may result in the forfeiture of any prizes or awards granted.

In August, 2025, we launched the Floodlight Investigative Journalism Game Jam, which gave game developers across the globe access to investigative reporting about organized crime and corruption to adapt into interactive media experiences.

Topics included tracking a ruthless gang across the Americas, revealing how a crew of Romanian criminals conquered the world of ATM skimming, and how an undercover journalist in Ghana went behind enemy lines to expose a cocoa smuggling network.

Developers were able to directly ask the reporters behind the stories questions throughout the development process and a jury of experts chose five finalists. 

“Hunting the Hunter” by Berlin-based Greenwave Games won the top prize and they received $5,000 and a spot in SpielFabrique’s Launchpad Program, which offers individualized mentoring and support.

The winning game is based on an investigation by Anas Aremeyaw Anas from Ghana, “Hunting the Hunter: Infiltrating the Cocoa Smuggling Underworld of Ghana’s Western Border.” Anas went undercover to expose a deep-rooted network that sabotaged Ghana’s economy, deprived farmers, and threatened national security.

The winner was announced at the inaugural Floodlight Investigative Journalism Gaming Summit, held in Amsterdam on September 24 and live-streamed online. The Summit featured highlights from the game jam finalists as well as discussions between game developers and investigative journalists about storytelling and the crossover between the two industries.

Thank you to Floodlight’s Gaming Partners:

Anima Interactive is a socially conscious games and immersive media studio that blends art and technology to craft experiences that ignite positive cultural change.

V-Ventures is the investment arm of Stichting Veronica, which initiates and/or invests in innovative models, people, and instruments that build a vibrant media sector and contribute to a free, flourishing, and pluralistic society.

Good Game Generation fosters a new generation of gamers who embrace conscious and healthy entertainment. GGGen seeks to create social spaces where the passion for video games is shared in a constructive and enriching way.

ZAM is an international multi-media platform celebrating African creativity and new thinking. ZAM presents African independent, public-interest storytelling that exposes systems of kleptocracy, challenges exploitation and defends free expression. 

The Pulitzer Center champions the power of stories to make complex issues relevant and inspire action and has a bold vision: to be the venue for the world’s most innovative and consequential reporting, with journalism as the key element for mobilizing society through audience engagement strategies

And our Community Partners:

Games for Change (G4C) has empowered game creators, students, educators, and social innovators to drive real-world impact through games and immersive media.

Global Game Jam empowers all individuals worldwide to learn, experiment, and create together through the medium of games in a safe and welcoming environment. GGJ holds the world’s largest game creation event, The Global Game Jam, and directly serves 40,000 game creators every year in 100+ countries.

SpielFabrique creates international acceleration and mentoring programs for indie game studios, and brings together all industry stakeholders to create greater understanding, knowledge, and collaboration.

INDIGO is the premier business event for the Benelux game industry, connecting game developers, publishers, investors and industry professionals through networking, showcases and expert talks.

International Game Developers Association is the world’s largest nonprofit membership organization serving all individuals who create games. Floodlight Gaming is extremely grateful to be supported by the Siros Foundation.