A new game called Big Pharma is out to make a point about it’s subject matter – with a twist. The game allows the player to play as the executive of a pharmaceutical company, making decisions about purchasing lab equipment and developing medications. At a glance, it may not be so different from other management simulation games, the objective of which is to develop the most successful business plan and company possible. That is, however, part of the point.
A key message of the game is that a pharmaceutical corporation is often like any other – it’s main motive is profit. However, the products of the pharmaceutical industry are not like other consumer goods: they exist not for leisure or profit but for health. The game explores the ethical dilemmas that occur when the interests of a company and the needs of patients clash.
As the game’s maker, Tim Wicksteed, says, “You can deliberately hold off producing your tuberculosis remedy until it infects half of Africa, in order to maximise your profits.” The game’s makers also note that many players indeed do not think twice about sacrificing quality of the drug for the sake of profit. This can, of course, be attributed to the fact that Big Pharma is a game and the players are not affecting real people’s lives as a pharmaceutical company would by making a similar decision. What the game does is highlight that there is a disconnect between what is best for the company and best for the patient.
An important point is that the game is not out to inherently demonize the pharmaceutical industry. While there can be instances of corporate executives prioritizing profit over patients, it is important to remember that many of these companies perform groundbreaking research on the toughest diseases and create drugs which improve and even save many lives. Rather than denouncing the industry altogether, the game puts the player in the same position of power as the executive, and allows them to make their own decision.
Consider, for example, the recent outbreak of Ebola. One theory as to why a cure for Ebola had not been developed sooner was that there was little incentive for profit-driven companies to invest in curing a disease that primarily affects poorer nations which cannot shell out large sums of money to pay for the drug. This is the kind of dilemma that the player is allowed to explore in Big Pharma. So the real question this game asks is: will the company do what is best for its customers (in this case, patients), or what is best for its own bottom line?
Connor Ruby is a graduate of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and a political consultant for Bulldozer Health. Connor studied comparative government at Clark as well as abroad at the University of Trier in Germany and covers politics and political processes in the US and abroad.
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