The Breakthrough T1D Play program is a medical research charity raising money for critical research into diabetes, one of the biggest causes of death in the U.S.
And this week, gaming pioneer Will Wright helped raise money for the group, said Wright and said Josh Larson, national director of Breakthrough T1D Play, in interviews with GamesBeat.
Wright talked about his career, making games like Sim City, The Sims and more at companies like Maxis and Electronic Arts. The Sims franchise has generated more than $5 billion in revenue to date.
He’s now cofounder of his own startup Gallium Studios with Lauren Elliott and they’re working on a memory simulation game called Proxi. Wright, whose grandmother had T1D, also gave a sneak peek at what Proxi will be as part of a stream to raise money for the nonprofit.
Will Wright’s new game is Proxi.
Proxi is a new life simulation game about making magical connections with your memories and bringing them to life. The game is a lot like quantifying your memories, Wright said in an interview with GamesBeat.
In an interview, Wright noted there are a couple of people in his family with T1D as well as other people among friends and at his workplace too. That gave him good reasons to do the stream with Breakthrough T1D Play.
The Breakthrough T1D program focuses on cures for Type 1 diabetes, a disease which strikes one in 400 children. More than 1.6 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes (T1D), and 9.4 million have it worldwide. It’s on a trajectory to grow to 16 million by 2040. Although people can make lifestyle changes to help manage the disease, there is no cure at this time.
The Breakthrough T1D Play group formed in 2019. It was founded by game industry veterans who are parents of children with T1D. And they have raised over $5 million for research into new treatments and potential cures.
The program is backed by a powerful network of game industry vets who either have T1D themselves or have a close personal connection, from companies including Microsoft, PlayStation, EA, and Disney. With their support, Breakthrough T1D Play raises money and awareness through Humble Bundles, Steam sales, charity streams, and in-game integrations.
In the group’s Dev Diaries Twitch series, members of the Breakthrough T1D Play streaming community interview game devs about their careers while discussing their T1D connection (when applicable) and playing a game they worked on.
Wright joined to talk and play The Sims 2 and show off the new life sim called Proxi. One of Gallium Studios’ programmers, Justin Graham, a LucasArts and Maxis alumni, is working on Proxi and he has T1D.
The Sims has a unique connection with the T1D communit …