The Oldest Game is a title that you probably wouldn’t have heard of unless you were intently following the Canadian legislative system in how it has shifted its stance towards the issue of selling and purchasing sexual services in the country. With the implementation of Bill C-36 that was passed in the country just last October, The Oldest Game is even more relevant now.
The Oldest Game is being led by Lisa Lynch, an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism at Concordia University. According to an official blog post made by the development team, The Oldest Game is a newsgame that aims “to demonstrate how the shifting Canadian legislative system governing sex work impacts the lives of sex workers”. The aim of this title, therefore, is to ensure that players will become more aware of the “realities of sex work in Canada” instead of relying solely on what is shown in the mainstream media.
The blog post goes on to state that the development team has been working very closely with actual sex workers in the country and has engaged in extensive research into the issue. The Oldest Game allows players to “assume the identity of a sex worker and experience exactly how the legislation will impact the life and work of those it most directly affects”.
The Oldest Game is in its final stretch of development and the team will soon be getting beta testers to play through an early build of the game before releasing it to the public.