When a director of the world’s most successful video game, Grand Theft Auto, started work on a title based around the story of the Iranian Revolution, it raised a few eyebrows in the industry. At his studio in New York, Navid Khonsari explained the decision: “I knew iNK Stories could create not just a pseudo-psychological experience but, by using real world events in a respectful manner, could give audiences the experience of substantial emotional impact.”

At The Future of Play, a forum that took place in London in July about the future of video gaming, it was proposed that interactive play is expanding beyond gamer and games console, towards a more diverse, mainstream audience. This is provoking a growth in games that focus on social themes including politics, ethics and human emotions.

The reason lies in the changing media landscape. On the one hand, interactive devices such as smartphones, tablets and increasingly smart TVs are beginning to dominate media consumption. On the other, there is a new wave of more immersive media on the horizon such as Oculus Rift and Google Glass. It’s hard to believe that these developments will not in some way result in a convergence between the interactive experiences of games, and the narrative approach of more traditional storytelling formats.

So what does any of this mean for society at large? Media futures writer Marshall McLuhan argued that each new media trend has a profound impact on culture: “We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.” So far much of the impact of our digital screen addiction has been the casual desire to throw birds and juggle candy. However there is a good argument that time-killing gaming apps will not be the interactive experience of choice on more immersive channels such as connected TVs.

Interactive media has the unique potential to place you in the shoes of other people and create genuinely empathetic experiences. It was back in 1999 that the Sims enabled the characters in the game to grow up gay and enter into same sex relationships. However the prevalent idea about interactive media is derived from games like Khonsari’s former Grand Theft Auto series, which have long been criticised for the potential for extreme acts of violence they place in the hands of their players. Khonsari now believes that people are looking for more than this: “Traditional console publishers will continue to make the big blockbusters and those will be great, but audiences have a bigger and more dynamic appetite.”

Recently, two other examples of the “play with purpose” trend appeared in the news for different reasons. Depression Quest is a game that invites participants to explore and understand the world of depression. The difficult themes that it engages with made it a very difficult choice to launch on the same day that we learned of actor Robin Williams’ death. Bad Papers on the other hand, is an interactive experience accompanying an investigative report by the New York Times on debt collection that allowed the reader to experience the story from the perspective of both debtor and debt collector. Khonsari thinks that games as a format allow us to open up a whole new perspective on historical events: “A narrative game, which allows critical decisions to be made by the player, seems like the ultimate tool to tell the story of a revolution.”

As we reach the tipping point when the vast majority of media consumption moves over to interactive, connected devices, the potential impact on culture and society should be given more attention, and trends around interaction design and social impact are a key development to keep and eye on. The big question about how big and significant the trend is likely to become is largely a commercial one. As Khonsari explains, for him it is all a question of great storytelling: “With 1979 we’ve put endless hours into crafting a story that will capture the imaginations and emotions of its players. Coming from the background of working on GTA, Max Payne, etc. I know how to deliver quality, and so the production value of 1979 will be outstanding as will the experience. Ultimately I believe that great stories manage to reach wide audiences.”

How the future of play with purpose will pan out remains to be seen, but we will give the last words to Marshall McLuhan, whose message is blunt but encouraging: “Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.”

David Hawksworth is co-founder and creative director of Given London and Christian Johnsen is vice president, strategy director at Carat New York

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