Language is a tool, and just like any tool, it has equal capacity to inflict both good and bad on the world. Language is a beautiful, human thing; the connective tissue that transfers culture, knowledge and critical information across borders and generations. It's that second function -- the divisive one -- that inspired developer Rami Ismail and voice actor Sarah Elmaleh to produce a conference for game creators that removes language as a barrier to entry. Gamedev.world is billed as the first truly global online games conference, with plans to host 48 hours of expert panels and live Q&A sessions on Twitch, YouTube and Mixer, translated in real-time into English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Simplified Chinese. It's all scheduled to take place later this year. "If games can be played by anyone, and made by anyone, we want to make sure everyone feels like they truly belong here," Ismail told Engadget.

The gaming industry often gets a bad rap for its depictions of violence and female objectification, but Games for Change, a New York-based development company, hopes to slowly change that. Founded in 2004, G4C creates and distributes games that focus on social impact, human rights, poverty and other issues. The customary gun-toting badasses are gone, replaced instead by characters with a strong sense of moral responsibility and a mission to educate players worldwide. Watch the video above to learn more about the company's efforts to create a new niche in the gaming market.