
The International Committee of the Red Cross has teamed up with a group of Twitch streamers to encourage players not to commit war crimes in popular shooters like Obligations. The ICRC hopes that its event, “Playing by the Rules”, will educate players on the statutes of real warfare. The organization has even created its own Fortnite to help communicate what those rules are.
Read more: War crimes in video games attract scrutiny from the Red Cross
“Every day, people are playing games set in conflict zones right from their sofa. But right now, armed conflicts are more frequent than ever,” said the The ICRC website said. “And for the people who suffer its effects, this conflict is not a game. It destroys lives and leaves communities devastated. Therefore, we challenge you to play FPS with the real rules of war, to show everyone that even wars have rules, rules that protect humanity on the battlefields in real life.”
As part of the event, at the Official ICRC Twitch channel streamers have played several games while adhering to (or trying to adhere to) the Laws of Conflictincluding PUBG Battlegrounds, Fortnite, call of duty: war zone, rainbow 6 siegeand Escape from Tarkov. In addition to the Play by the Rules event, the ICRC created its own Fortnite mode that is designed to convey the rules of war in the context of competitive play.
For those curious, the official war rules for the Play by ICRC Rules event (which have been simplified to take into account video game mechanics) are:
- Thirstless (do not shoot downed or unresponsive enemies)
- Not targeting non-violent NPCs
- Do not aim at civilian buildings
- Use first aid kits in all
This isn’t the first time the ICRC has urged players to think critically about the rules of war. In 2017, the ICRC organized a similar event in a weapons 3 DLC called law of war. In law of war, players put down their weapons and assume the role of aid workers as they respond to people in crisis, defuse mines and speak with an investigative journalist. According to a blog post from weapons 3 developer Bohemia Interactive, the DLC grossed a total of $176,667which he donated to the ICRC.