iThentic launches simulation game at Stream Market

Digital content company iThentic is unveiling a environmentally focused Facebook simulation game and companion video series on Monday at Stream Market in Santa Monica.

Launching in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation and environmental site Earth 911, GreenYrLife is like FarmVille for the green-minded, giving users a virtual home to play in.

GreenYrLife and the three accompanying video series will be monetized through advertising and an in-game transaction model. A portion of the proceeds (2%) will be donated to the David Suzuki Foundation.

The game, produced in association with the Canada Media Fund, will also have a micro-transaction model – players who buy “GreenChange” can advance within the game and upgrade their household items.

The video series accompanying the launch are: The Dirt on Green: In NYC (13 x 2 min.) hosted by Christie Nicholson, science journalist for Scientific American, Slate, and Discovery, (pictured); Today on Earth (13 x 3 min.), hosted by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, a marine biologist and environmental media producer; and GreenTips (37 x 1 min.) hosted by Earth Dr. Reese Halter, an award-winning broadcaster, author and conservation biologist.

“We wanted to take the panic out of the climate change issue,” Tait told StreamDaily ahead of the Stream Market, a conference and marketplace for original, digital video entertainment, running through Tuesday. “We know that people love video online and we thought that by providing supplemental video which ‘presents the medicine’ in a fun, handy and digestible fashion, we would engage our players,” she said.

Earth911, a site that has more 6.6 million users, will help to promote the game to the target 18-34-year-old demo through editorial and banner ads. A PR campaign reaching out to Upworthy, Treehugger, and other bloggers is also underway.

“Our secondary target will be slightly younger, high school and college students. We are in discussions with educational online services to secure distribution to this market,” Tait said.

iThentic, a digital content producer and distributor, is headquartered in Toronto with offices in New York City and Los Angeles.