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The 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. It takes the total raised by the event since its 2016 inception to $759,695.
The charities worked with 20 studios in November, "giving the gaming-community a chance to participate in peaceful gameplay through exclusive content". The initiative also included sales on Steam, Amazon App Store, and Google Play 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[s] about the effects o[f] war at the point of maximum contrast in conflict themed games," the charity explains. Examples include the themed DLC content for World War I title, 11-11: Memories Retold which – through a series of letters, drawings and photographs – told a narrative adventure inspired by real-life stories from the children supported by War Child.
"The gaming sector deserves huge recognition for the backing it has given and the funds it has raised so far on our journey," said Wayne Emanuel, head of gaming partnerships at War Child UK. "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."
War Child UK thanks a number of game companies, including 505 Games, Amanita Design, Bandai Namco, Devolver Digital, Digital Legends, Dinosaur Polo Club, Fireproof Games, Game Insight, Gameloft, IGG.com, Imperia Online JSC, Introversion Software, Madfinger Games, PlayStack, Positech Games, Revolution Software, Six Foot Europe, Social Point, Studio Diva, Tencent/Miniclip, and Wargaming,
War Child’s work continues throughout 2019, including RE-PLAY in April, which takes players back to their childhood favourites with downloadable retro-themed games and events all to raise money and awareness for children affected by conflict.
