Floodlight: Gaming in the Public Interest!
We’re excited to announce the 2nd Investigative Journalism Game Jam from Floodlight Gaming!
What if you could turn investigative reporting into games?
Welcome to Floodlight Gaming – where investigative journalism transforms into interactive storytelling.
This year’s game jam will run from April 6-May 7, 2026, and the winner will be announced at the INDIGO festival in Rotterdam on June 2, 2026. 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.
Selected developers will gain exclusive access to the Floodlight Gaming Stories Catalog containing in-depth investigative reports from OCCRP’s global network and beyond.
This year’s topics include but are not limited to:
- The manipulation of a high-stakes Nigerian election
- A transnational network smuggling looted Egyptian antiquities into global museums
- A Paraguayan community’s landmark legal battle against a foreign-backed crypto operation
Prizes & Opportunities
- $5,000 USD to winning project
- A spot in the next Spielfabrique Launchpad Programme (mentorship + industry access)
- Selected games will be showcased at the INDIGO Festival in the Netherlands!
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 investigative reporting about global organized crime and corruption. Developers will have the opportunity to ask questions to journalists behind the reporting.
Who can participate in the jam?
Interested applicants 18+ may apply, and the Floodlight Gaming team and partners will select eligible candidates to participate in the jam.
How do I join?
There’s a simple form that should only take a few minutes to complete! You can register to join here.
What kind of stories will be available to game creators?
Participants will receive the Floodlight Gaming catalog containing unique stories based on reporting from top investigative journalists. Stories are drawn from investigative reporting and may explore:
- Organized crime networks
- Financial systems and money laundering
- Cultural heritage trafficking
- Surveillance, state control, and disinformation
Are there any security requirements?
Due to security reasons, all applicants 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.
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.
We are also working on further development with game jam runner-up Polyvale Studios, who created “Dark Money,” based on OCCRP’s Laundromat investigations by hundreds of investigative reporters across OCCRP’s global network. A laundromat is a massive financial vehicle that uses offshores to move money across international borders. Through these systems, money stolen from some of the world’s most vulnerable people is laundered for political influence and personal enrichment.
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.
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.
Thank you to Floodlight’s Gaming Partners:
Anima Interactive is a socially conscious games and immersive media studio that blends art and technology to ignite positive cultural impact.
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:
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.
Games for Change empowers 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.
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.
