Video game mental health charity Safe In Our World has announced a new initiative to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week 2020. #LevelUpMentalHealth is a global campaign that boasts of the support of major video game companies around the world, with the aim of providing dedicated support to those in the industry affected by anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.
This campaign comes one year after Safe In Our World was announced to the public.The charity's latest work is focused on rallying the industry to better understand mental health, so that it can more effectively support those that work within it. Check out a video below explaining the initiative and the origins of Safe In Our World, narrated by none other than The Witcher star Doug Cockle. There may or may not be a Geralt cameo in there.
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"The #LevelUpMentalHealth campaign seeks to challenge the video games industry to unite and commit to positive change," a press release reads. "Starting with workplaces, ensuring working environments are always safe and supportive of the mental health of its talent."
In order to achieve this goal, Safe In Our World has helped put together a "mental health toolkit", which offers guidance and aims to arm developers, publishers, and service providers a resource that allows them to focus on the mental well-being of their staff.
Various prominent companies from around the world have now partnered with the charity to work towards to the cause. 505 Games, Auroch Digital, Caged Element, Camel 101, Curve Digital, UKIE and Wired Productions are just a (very) small selection of a rapidly growing alliance.
"Supporting Mental health awareness is important for us," said Embracer Group Corporate governance and sustainability coordinator Karin Edner. Embracer is a major parent company within the industry, with over 160 owned franchises and 31 internal game studios across 40 countries. Having just joined forces with Safe In Our World is obviously a pretty big deal.
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"We are a growing group and with size comes responsibility," Edner continued. "Our people are our greatest asset. Committing to Safe in our world gives us the possibility to provide our subsidiaries with tools on how to engage in this issue. From us, it's a commitment to raise awareness of mental health in our group, and this allows us to level up together."
Leo Zullo, Chairman of Safe In Our World said, "We're beyond proud to see so much
support for our cause from the industry, but now it's time to turn that support into action.
The #LevelUpMentalHealth campaign will form a major part of our activities now and in the
future."
The #LevelUpMentalHealth campaign now issues three key challenges to the industry as a whole. The first is taking the first steps to rolling out an official mental health policy for your company within 12 months. The second is joining Safe In Our World as a partner, further committing to supporting mental health in the wider industry. The third and final challenge is help spread the message to creators and players, both in the workplace and via any media channels.
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If you're at all interested in the campaign or the work Safe In Our World does, you should head over here to find out more information. You can (and should) also follow Safe in Our World and keep up to date with the awesome work they're doing on Twitter or Facebook.
Featured Image Credit: Safe In Our WorldTopics: Mental Health