11 Bit Studios‘ harrowing side-scrolling survival game This War of Mine is ten years old today. And to mark the occasion, 11 Bit has unveiled Forget Celebrations, a new charity DLC being released as part of the game’s continuing “mission to shed light on the civilian cost of war”.
“Innocent lives are still being lost on battlefields, new conflicts are erupting, arms production escalates to feed war’s demand, and civilians and soldiers continue to face unimaginable brutality,” the studio writes in its announcement of Forget Celebrations. “With the world bleeding, we believe it is vital to keep pushing for change.”
In Forget Celebrations, 11 Bit once again returns to the fictional war-torn city of Pogoren, this time to tell the story of Katia, a seasoned war correspondent. “While struggling to write a book on the brutal realities of war,” the studio explains, “a missile attack devastates her home, forcing her into an even harsher fight for survival and the recovery of her gathered material.”
11 Bit hasn’t announced a release date or price for This War of Mine’s Forget Celebrations DLC as yet (and it’s so far only confirmed for Steam), but it says all studio proceeds will be donated to its charity partners – War Child, Amnesty International, Liberty Ukraine, and Indie Games Poland – in the “hopes of helping those affected by today’s ongoing wars”.
This War of Mine has been met with significant acclaim since its release back in 2014, appearing in London’s Imperial War Museum and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. It was officially added to the Polish school curriculum in 2022, and was even awarded a Special Recognition Award by Amnesty International earlier this year for its “continued relevance in portraying the harsh realities faced by civilians in conflict zones” and as a “powerful reminder of the crucial importance of international humanitarian law in protecting civilian lives in areas of armed conflict, citing current situations in various regions of the world.”
In his review of This War of Mine back in 2015, former Eurogamer editor-in-chief Martin Robinson wrote, “[Its] simple message – that war is hell, and that we’re all capable of being sucked into its moral depths – might be slightly compromised by its strengths as a game, but at least it’s a message carried with a great deal more conviction than other, more bombastic portrayals of conflict. That, for certain, is something to be thankful for.”
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