For many of us, relaxing gaming sessions provide a welcome escape from the daily grind. When we dive into cinematically staged single-player titles, have a good time on sites like the Wunderino online casino When we play online casino games or engage in challenging multiplayer battles, we quickly forget which background stories our games actually tell – namely those of their developers.

More and more new revelation reports show the adversities that gaming forges actually face. In this regard, the headlines tell of severe sexism accusations and inhumane crunch phases. However, as we all know, these are not the only hard-to-digest news we are facing in our current days.

On February 24 this year, the Russian military launched an invasion of Ukraine, throwing the lives of millions of people into chaos virtually overnight. This also applies to the employees of the gaming industry: according to the report, the country embodies an important location for the entire industry. Some Western publishers, such as Ubisoft, maintain branches here, in addition to the numerous local studios. Shortly after the war broke out, many Ukrainian developers turned to the public, strongly condemning the Russian attack and calling for an immediate end to the violence. Like so many other international corporations, some Ukrainian studios decided to immediately stop doing business with Russia and Belarus. Even World of Tanks and World of Warships makers Wargaming took this step: Accordingly, the responsibility for the live service is now in the hands of Lesta Studio; as a result, the management is now facing severe financial losses. Wargaming’s focus is first and foremost on the safety of its employees and compatriots. The more than 500 employees of the Kiev branch were provided with accommodation, early wages and funds for departures to safe neighboring countries. In addition to this, the creators of the iconic online tank game donated one million US dollars to the Ukrainian Red Cross.

The other Ukrainian developer studios also sharply criticized the assault on their homeland and appealed on social media for solidarity from their supporters. Accordingly, the Kiev-based studio GSC Game World called for donations to the local military. Despite the uncertain situation, the developer initially tried to keep the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 planned for the end of 2022 – in the meantime, however, the release of the Chernobyl survival shooter had to be postponed to next year. Vostok Games, known for Fear the Wolves and Survarium, in turn was forced to abandon its Kiev location for the time being due to the ongoing fighting. Frogwares, Sengi Games, and Yevhen8 also spoke out in public statements asking for financial support for charity institutions, expressing solidarity with Ukraine, and condemning the Russian invaders. In addition, many developer studios outside Ukraine showed their support: Square Enix donated half a million US dollars to humanitarian causes, and Polish studio 11bit Games donated all proceeds generated by its anti-war game This War of Mine to the Red Cross of the neighboring country for one week. The list of international game companies that stand by Ukraine is long. As is well known, after the outbreak of the war EA announced that it would remove all Russian teams from its current titles in the FIFA and NHL series, and the renowned publisher also stopped all sales in Belarus and Russia. Meanwhile, the same applies to Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Microsoft and Rockstar.

Those who take a more superficial view of the gaming world complain that the virtual on-screen wars continue unabated while actual battles rage in Ukraine. In this regard, some gamers point out that the battles in shooters like “Call of Duty” look very realistic – but this is only half the truth. Accordingly, the corresponding titles are not about the fictitious unleashing of death and chaos, but about competitive gameplay, coordinated interaction, excitement – and, above all, fun. How a game can approach the sensitive subject of war in a respectful and moving way is shown by the aforementioned This War of Mine from 11bit Games. In fact, the player does not slip into the skin of an overpowered elite soldier, but takes control of a group of civilians who fight for sheer survival in the bombed ruins of their homeland. This is usually not done by force of arms, however, but by conscientious trading and looting. Instead of blasting bullets at the on-screen enemy, This War of Mine instead offers a disillusioned, unembellished and depressing gaming experience – and proves once again that the medium of video games is just as capable as others of approaching the subject of war from an enlightened and reflective side.