The unique Armistice gaming fundraiser from War Child UK and its US partner Children in Conflict raised $380,000 in 2018 to support children whose lives have been torn apart by war, taking the total raised by Armistice since its inception in 2016 to $759,695.
In 2018 the charities for children affected by war worked with 20 heavyweight studios, in the month of November, giving the gaming-community a chance to participate in peaceful gameplay through exclusive content, a Steam, Amazon App Store & Google Play sale and live streams to inspire the gaming community to raise vital funds.
Armistice serves to raise awareness of the realities of conflict for children around the world today by creating conversation about the effects on war at the point of maximum contrast in conflict themed games. Highlights from this year included themed DLC content for World War I title, 11-11: Memories Retold through a series of letters, drawings and photographs found throughout the narrative adventure inspired by real life stories from the children supported by War Child, as well as a Peace Stand in Prison Architect, and for the first time a Virtual Reality collaboration with Dick Wilde.
Lionel Lovisa, Producer for 11-11: Memories Retold at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe said
“With 11-11: Memories Retold we wanted to make a game that goes beyond traditional entertainment. With that in mind, working together with War Child UK made a lot of sense.
Bringing more fun to everyone is the mission of Bandai Namco Entertainment but we know that “fun” can be a privilege that many can’t afford. We hope the 11-11: Memories Retold charity DLC will help War Child accomplish more today while it also reminds everyone about the human realities of being drown into conflict. For a better tomorrow we need to remember the lessons of the past.”
Artiom Muraska, Regional Publishing Director, WoT Europe, which has supported Armistice from the beginning, commented;
“We were thrilled and honoured for the third consecutive year to once again be part of the Armistice Campaign supporting the incredible and invaluable work that War Child UK do. The response from our amazing World Of Tanks players was overwhelming and a resounding success beating all previous years.
So, from us all at Wargaming, we would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of our dedicated players for their participation and generosity without whom none of this would be possible.”
War Child has innovative fundraising partnerships across the PC, console and mobile industries, as well as through streaming and support from the gaming community and to date has brought in a massive $4.3million in fundraising through gaming. The money raised goes towards funding War Child programmes; from supporting Syrian children to access education, to reintegrating child soldiers in the Central African Republic and promoting justice for young people in detention in Afghanistan.
Wayne Emanuel, Head of Gaming Partnerships, War Child UK,
“The gaming sector deserves huge recognition for the backing it has given and the funds it has raised so far on our journey. We intend to continue growing Armistice and working with as many conflict-themed games as possible to raise awareness and support children who have felt the effects of war. With such engagement and a strong sense of community from gamers and willingness to support from developers, publishers and platforms, there is an enormous opportunity to make gaming a platform for positive change.”
As the global gaming industry goes from strength to strength, War Child hopes to find more innovative and creative ways to create change with support from the industry and community which has already helped children across the world.
In 2019 War Child’s work with gaming will continue with RE-PLAY in April, taking players back to their childhood favourites with downloadable retro themed games and events all to raise money and awareness for children affected by conflict.
With thanks to:
- BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe
- Wargaming.net
- PlayStack
- Game Insight
- Imperia Online JSC
- IGG.com
- Gameloft
- Introversion Software
- Digital Legends
- Madfinger Games
- Tencent/Miniclip
- Studio Diva
- Social Point
- Positech Games
- Amanita Design
- Six Foot Europe
- Fireproof Games
- Devolver Digital
- Dinosaur Polo Club
- Revolution Software
- 505 Games
