Red Cross challenges shooter players to adhere to real-world rules of warfare – WhatsNew2Day

The Red Cross had its own Fortnite map developed for its awareness campaign.

The international aid organization Red Cross doesn’t actually have much in common with video games, but with a new campaign called Play by the rules should that change now: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) demands that shooter fans adhere to the real rules of war.

Shooter players as ambassadors for the rules of war

Specifically, the campaign wants to encourage you to observe the following (game) rules of war, which are anchored in international humanitarian law:

• If an opponent is injured on the ground, you must not continue shooting at him.
• Shooting at civilians and friendly AI characters is prohibited.
• You cannot fight in houses, schools or hospitals. But if you have no choice but to fight, you must avoid damaging the area.
• If you have med kits or healing items, you should also use them on teammates and enemies when they are injured.

Why is the Red Cross doing this? The aid organization points out that many games are set in conflict zones. The players should remind themselves that the world is currently over 100 active conflict zones are in which the civilian population suffers the most.

The Red Cross believes that today’s gamers will be the soldiers, politicians and CEOs of tomorrow, and we want to educate them on the importance and value of the Rules of War mentioned.

Whether these rules can really be implemented in current shooters, is more than questionable. None of the big shooters like Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Call of Duty Warzone 2 or Apex Legends would play effectively if you didn’t kill your enemies. You can’t heal them anyway.

Maybe that’s why the Red Cross cites the ARMA 3 DLC Laws of War as an example, in whose campaign you slip into the role of an explosives expert and go through a martial law training course. A separate Fortnite custom map, in which you should learn to follow the rules mentioned, has also been published.

We would have liked to tell you at this point how it works in practice and how it plays – but we could for the map not find a single player.