If any organization has seen the most tragedy in the last decade, it would be the International Red Cross, which is often one of the most funded teams on the scene in many situations. After seeing the horrors of war and other acts of violence, the Red Cross has begun to promote the rules of war, known as the Geneva Convention, with streamers agreeing to participate in certain games.
According to the official Play by the Rules website, the Red Cross is encouraging players of the FPS genre to abide by the Geneva Conventions. The event took place on Saturday, April 15, with streamers like KingGeorge, DanucD, Gingy, and others participating in the event across a range of FPS titles. The rules of war are simple, and are as follows:
- Rule 1: Prisoners of war must be protected from violence, intimidation, and ill-treatment.
- Rule 2: Civilians cannot be attacked and must be protected.
- Rule 3: Civilian infrastructures are protected areas.
- Rule 4: The sick and wounded must be cared for on both sides.
In Warzone, for example, this would mean that you can’t engage enemies or otherwise shoot at civilian housing or infrastructure. If an enemy falls near you, you’ll need to ensure that you provide medical aid to ensure that they survive. If you do have a PoW, you cannot treat them improperly, such as through aggressive language or other violence.
Related: Riot Games raises over $3 million for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine
Fortnite even has its own Creative level where players can follow these rules at the Island Code: 1685-6108-3920.
The event provided some interesting clips showing streamers having to abide by the rules of war, leading DanucD to many decisions they might not have made otherwise. One example shows the streamer protecting an injured soldier, but they were killed anyway.
DanucD also reacted surprisingly realistically when their teammate used one of the utilities, likely some kind of explosive, which was apparently against the rules.
What’s clear is that players are used to committing war crimes in video games on a daily basis for years, so choosing to implement new rules is bound to throw anyone off. What would be interesting is to see a war game that actually implements these rules, further feeding into the impact that each decision on the battlefield takes.
Players who want to watch the full ICRC Play By The Rules stream can do so on the page’s Twitch channel. There were some occasional difficulties, given this is the first time the ICRC has done this, so be prepared to skip around.
