It can often look like the opposite is true, but in wartime, many countries theoretically follow a set of laws known as the International Humanitarian Laws, which are intended to ensure armed conflict harms no innocent people, offers care for wounded on both sides, and keeps prisoners free from undue cruelty. It’s these laws that are at the forefront of an initiative by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) known as Play by the Rules, which is challenging fans of video game FPS titles to follow these humanitarian laws.
The initiative looks to not only draw attention to IHL standards but also call to mind the humanitarian cost of war – something that the ICRC argues is very often lost in FPS titles. “Every day, people play games set in conflict zones right from their couch. But right now, armed conflicts are more prevalent than ever. And to the people suffering from their effects, this conflict is not a game,” the ICRC reasons. “Therefore, we’re challenging you to play FPS by the real Rules of War, to show everyone that even wars have rules—rules which protect humanity on battlefields IRL.”
This initiative has a set of four specific rules: No thirsting, aka no shooting a downed and unresponsive enemy target; no targeting non-hostile NPCs; no destruction of civilian buildings; and the use of med kits on everyone, friend or foe. As part of the effort, these four guidelines were apparently adopted by several FPS streamers and are highlighted in games like Fortnite and Arma III, with a specific creative mode built for the former and a DLC for the latter, which incidentally was first released in 2017 and raised over $170K for the Red Cross at the time.
