Mental health charity Safe In Our World has launched Four Billion Players, a campaign to raise awareness of mental health support for gamers.
With the global player base projected to exceed four billion by 2029, Safe In Our World is asking developers, publishers, and platforms to make mental health support more accessible and to “develop practical ways to put support in front of players.”
Examples include adding a splash screen at game launch to highlight Safe In Our World, linking to the charity’s free mental health resources in menus, featuring in-game events or items related to the charity, or providing signposts in community spaces.
Organisations can register interest in the Four Billion Players campaign at safeinourworld.org.
Examples of practical ways of showing mental health support resources to players
“Games have an extraordinary ability to bring people together, but someone can still feel alone while playing,” said Safe In Our World charity director Sarah Sorrell. “We want every player to know there is help and hope, and somewhere they can turn. Four Billion Gamers is an invitation to the industry to help us share that message.”
Safe In Our World founder and chairperson Leo Zullo added: “Supporting the people who make games remains central to our work. Seven years in, we also want to use the reach of games to do more for the people playing them. A clear route to help may seem like a small addition, but it could matter enormously to the person who finds it.”
Founded in 2019, Safe In Our World has raised over $450,000 for mental health training. The organisation has trained more than 400 industry professionals in mental health awareness and has a network of over 200 people in 15 countries.