The Red Cross Is Asking Players To Stop Committing War Crimes In Games

Story by Josh Coulson • Apr 20 • Quoted

Alot of popular video games are rooted in players picking up controllers and fighting in virtual wars. Not only does that describe every single Call of Duty game ever made, but its battle royale spinoff is quite literally called Warzone. With that in mind, you might think playing games like that without committing war crimes is impossible. However, streamers have been working with The International Committee of the Red Cross to prove it could and should be done.

“Every day, people play games set in conflict zones right from their couch. But right now, armed conflicts are more prevalent than ever,” the ICRC writes on its website (thanks, Kotaku). “To the people suffering from their effects, this conflict is not a game. It destroys lives and leaves communities devastated… we’re challenging you to play FPS by the real Rules of War, to show everyone that even wars have rules.”

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At this point, you may well be asking what exactly the rules of war are, and if it’s really that hard to abide by them in games like PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. There are four rules streamers have been trying to follow. Don’t shoot downed or unresponsive enemies, no targeting non-violent NPCs, no targeting civilian buildings, and use med kits on everyone. Some of those rules may well be easier to follow than others depending on the game you’re playing.

Take targeting downed enemies, for example. If playing squads in Fortnite, enemies drop to all fours as their health slowly depletes, giving teammates a chance to rescue them. According to the ICRC’s rules of war, you will not be allowed to finish them off. You’ll also not be allowed to leave a teammate who may well be holding you back to perish should they be downed. The rules of war dictate that you heal them, even if you think you stand a better chance at winning a crown without them.

Not picking on NPCs who don’t pick on you and avoiding damage to civilian buildings should be easier rules to follow. A number of streamers have already teamed up with the ICRC to show it can be done, although some have been having more trouble strictly abiding by the rules than others. You can check out all of their efforts on the ICRC’s Twitch channel with more to come.

The Red Cross has more involvement with what can and can’t be shown in video games than you might think. Innersloth revealed it was forced to change the color of the cross in Among Us’s medbay. Depicting The Red Cross symbol in a game is against the Geneva Convention, hence why many medkits in games are red with a white cross rather than the other way around. Among Us certainly wasn’t the first game to unknowingly land itself in hot water that way.

• This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by thumbtak.