War Child's Armistice, a program that debuted last year to encourage "peaceful gameplay in support of children affected by conflict," has launched a new effort for the 2017 holiday season that includes sales, special events, and unique DLC on games including World of Tanks, Verdun, This War of Mine, and Styx: Shards of Darkness.
"We are thrilled to be working with some amazing studios for a second year and are really excited to be uniting new developers across mobile and console in what has now become an annual fundraiser for War Child UK," gaming development manager Wayne Emanuel said. "Together, we want to give players access to new content in their favorite games and for them to join us in raising vital funds and awareness of some of the challenges faced by the world’s most disadvantaged children."
This year's Armistice campaign will see the return of the Christmas Truce DLC for the First World War online FPS Verdun, which raised more than $22,000 for the campaign last year. BlackMill Games and M2H will also be holding a two-minute silence in Verdun on November 11, "giving players the opportunity to take part in a ceasefire to mark their respect for the millions of people who have been impacted by war."
World of Tanks will bring back its "peace emblems" for the event, which players can purchase and use to adorn their tanks. More than 22,000 emblems were downloaded last year, raising nearly $90,000. Nexon will also hold a one-minute silence in its DomiNations mobile game, and offer a "Peace Bundle," with a number of non-violent in-game items, to raise funds for the War Child charity.
There's also the nigh-obligatory Steam bundle up for grabs until November 13, which includes Verdun, Democracy 3, This War of Mine, Styx: Master of Shadows, and its sequel, Styx: Shards of Darkness. They're also on sale individually: 30 percent of proceeds raised by sales of the Styx games, 50 percent of This War of Mine and Verdun, and 100 percent of Democracy 3 sales during the duration of the bundle will be donated to War Child.
The 2016 War Child's Armistice raised more than $130,000 to support the protection, education, and rights of children in conflict zones. More information about the program, and the War Child UK charity, can be had at warchildarmistice.com.