Hawke’s Brewing Co. has unveiled a bespoke gaming machine that donates all of its ‘takings’ to environmental causes.
Built-in partnership with technology innovation company Nakatomi, the ‘Game for Good’ will live inside the brewing company’s hospitality venue, The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, where guests who grab a beer from the bar will be offered a ‘donation token’ to play the game.
“The ‘Game for Good’ is a parody of a vintage ‘one arm bandit’ pokie machine. But in this case, our guests can play without the harm associated with pokies. Instead, every token put into the machine will equate to a real contribution to a local environmental group in the form of a real payout,” said Hawke’s co-founder, David Gibson.
The machine’s algorithm, programmed by Nakatomi, offers players the chance to win small, novel prizes, including Hawke’s beer and merchandise, plus snacks from the venue’s Lucky Prawn Chinese Restaurant.
When a player unlocks the ‘jackpot’, the jackpot total is passed on as a donation to a local environmental group. Players can even nominate to donate the value of their prizes directly to the jackpot pool.
The game’s title, King of The Climate, refers to Hawke’s co-founder Bob Hawke’s achievements as Australia’s “Environmental Prime Minister”.
“The Hawke’s journey started with Bob Hawke passing on his royalty share to help the company support environmental causes. Since then, every Hawke’s beer enjoyed has helped us keep that promise. The ‘Game for Good’ is a continuation of that spirit, while delivering an important message around our collective gamble with the environment. Ultimately, if the environment loses, we all lose. If it wins, we all win,” said Gibson.
The ‘Game for Good’ is partly powered by solar energy, sourced from Hawke’s 100kW rooftop solar farm,
one of the largest of its kind in Sydney’s inner west.
