Lord knows, games could do with a little less jingoism and giblets and a little more ‘60s Dylan. Turns out the wider world’s that way too – hence Peace Games Live, a streamed fundraising event to be held in the London offices of industry body UKIE this Saturday.
A gaggle of developers have pitched in with bespoke in-game DLC and merchandise to be auctioned off live via a Twitch telethon – with a portion of the proceeds to go to the Peace One Day charity.
The event is hosted by Playmob, the Ian Livingstone-chaired tech-and-charity company, and will feature initiatives from three developers: Kobojo, SoshiGames and Playdemic.
The stream will be made up of competitions, podcasts and competitive gaming shows, and funds will help improve awareness, education and vaccinations for children in war-torn areas.
“Playmob has long championed gaming as a force for good,” said CEO Jude Ower, “helping developers and publishers to set up charitable campaigns within their games quickly and easily and enable gamers to feel part of something even bigger by transparently showing them what they are impacting, while they play their favourite games.
“Peace Games has a simple but crucial message – to benefit those impacted by war and violence, whether in areas of conflict or at home, across the world. Peace Games, and Peace Games Live, is the next logical step in this initiative for us.”
Kobojo run a Facebook game called Mutants Genetic Gladiators. They know their field, and reckon they can sell new character Captain Peace for £80.09 a pop – a third of which will be donated to Peace One Day. Like his namesake, the Captain is reportedly extremely powerful but slow to get moving.
SoshiGames, meanwhile, are kitting out two of their games with opportunities for donation. For every 600-coin pack sold in Clue the Music on iOS, $3.32 will go to Peace One Day – and anybody purchasing a $5 Peace Games balloon in their Music Festivals game on Facebook will find that $1.75 of the fee will directly support the charity.
Playdemic, finally, are releasing a limited edition Peace One Day Pack for the 24-hour duration of the stream. $1.99 of its $4.99 asking price will find its way to the cause.
Why not tune in on a lazy Saturday morning, should you have one available, to see how Playmob are getting on?