The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has teamed up with the Fortnite streamers Dr. Lupo, Lachlan and One shot Gurl to raise awareness and support for victims of violence and conflict on the world’s biggest video gaming platform.

The streamers will come together with the ICRC on 19 January 2020 at PAX South arena in San Antonio to play and introduce the idea of the “Liferun” mode to the global gaming community.

The creative mode is highlighting four core activities the ICRC is carrying out in its operations in over 80 countries around the world. Players compete to heal civilians, rebuild essential infrastructure, demine and distribute aid as fast as possible.

With this creative mode, the ICRC has developed a completely new approach to reach out to the gaming community to try to spark conversations about its work in the world’s worst conflict zones. The ICRC is recognizing the growing importance of the gaming community and trying to influence its understanding and support for people affected by conflict.

Key facts about the gaming mode:

• Fortnite players can access the mode through creative mode and the code: On individual request · The first game was streamed at PAX South (Jan. 19) and streamed on the following Twitch channels: PAX Arena 
• The creative mode has been developed by Team Evolve, together with Wunderman Thompson and the ICRC. The game mode will be presented at PAX together with the American Red Cross
• Streamers will poll their audience during the game about their understanding of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the laws of armed conflict.

“We must engage the more than 2 billion gamers worldwide. Video games have been mainstream entertainment and social platforms for a long time, and we know that many gamers are also current, past or future soldiers, army officers, armed group members, CEOs of companies, lawyers and political leaders. We need to talk to them in a smart and engaging way to explain that civilians suffer greatly in conflict,” said Jennifer Hauseman, director of Communications and Information Management at the ICRC.

“Video games represent a huge opportunity to spread the word about the importance of the laws of armed conflict and how they are designed to protect the most vulnerable in conflict zones. This mode that we have co-developed is our first foray into creative modes on Fortnite,” Hauseman added.

The ICRC has already partnered with the gaming studio Bohemia interactive for its Arma 3 series in the past to inject gameplay and messaging about international humanitarian law. The engagement on Fortnite creative mode is a new attempt to engage with the gaming community about the work that the ICRC is doing in places affected by armed conflict and violence.