In an act of support and protest of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, developer 11 Bit Studios is donating all proceeds from the sale of This War of Mine to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Before making the impactful indie game Frostpunk, the Polish studio put out a cult classic in the form of This War of Mine — a dark, bleak survival game that unambiguously condemns war and violence through its writing, art design, and gameplay mechanics.
The independent developer sent out a press release today that clarified the company's stance on the situation in Ukraine while promoting a charitable effort. This information was also relayed through the official 11 Bit Studios Twitter account. The release and tweet both state that 11 Bit Studios stands with Ukraine and is planning to donate all profits from purchases of This War of Mine and its DLC to the Ukrainian Red Cross. This charity period will apply to all purchases of the game across the next seven days, across all platforms that the game is available on.
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War and violence are difficult themes that 11 Bit Studios explores in much of its work, and will likely feature heavily in the upcoming sequel to Frostpunk as well. By making this decision to donate what could amount to a very large amount of profit to help those affected by war, it's clear that the company's values extended beyond thematic dressing and messaging through its art. In the statement, 11 Bit Studios mentions that "words would be empty without a meaningful act" — the studio has been using the medium of video games as its words against war for years now, and those words are made all the more meaningful through this charitable gesture.
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