New Game Aims to Combat Modern Slavery

There are over 13 million children around the world that are victims of human trafficking. In fact, estimates of people trapped in slavery today range from 21 million to 46 million. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry that operates in the shadows of modern society. However, activists are working to raise awareness of this terrible secret and bring an end to the bondage.

One project that looks to accomplish this goal by using the popularity and appeal of video games is MISSING: The Complete Saga, a reality based RPG set in rural India. It is the brainchild of Leena Kejriwal, an artist and activist with 15 years of involvement in the Anti-Trafficking movement. Her experiences on the ground level convinced her of the importance of leveraging technology and entertainment to reach the most people and create the broadest social impact. By presenting the problem through the medium of video games, she hopes to raise awareness among people that may have otherwise not been exposed to the struggle that these children face. Kejriwal believes that knowledge leads to empathy, which, in turn, creates support for initiatives that can help build a safer world.

Kejriwal first saw the promise of utilizing video games to increase social awareness with the release of MISSING: Game for a Cause in October 2016. Within nine months, the small point and click adventure game, that forces the player to experience what an abductee goes through when she is sold into sex slavery, was downloaded half a million times and earned an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. The unique project was later acknowledged by the NASSCOM Gaming Forum Awards as the “Indie Game of the Year”.

This first game was the catalyst for MISSING: The Complete Saga, which takes the topic and goes further towards creating an immersive and more complete experience. As Champa, the player will experience the life of a young girl growing up in an impoverished village as she is confronted by the stark reality of the sex trafficking epidemic. Each choice by the player will shape her path and change her future, creating a unique experience each time the game is played.

Kejriwal and her team are currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for this ambitious project that aims to give the world a glimpse into a terrible tragedy of the modern world.

Find out more information or support the project at:

Timothy Cubbison is the General Manager of Horseless Cowboy, a creative consultancy that helps bridge the gap between technology and entertainment. His credits include the casting, writing, performance capture and VO production of over 1 million lines of dialogue on 50+ video game and virtual reality titles.