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The Town of Light publisher Wired Productions just announced a partnership with non-profit charity Take This, which aims to provide support and information about mental health issues.
This partnership marks the beginning of a year-long campaign to raise awareness and bring ongoing attention to the importance of mental health issues,” the announcement said.
As part of this campaign, Wired will organise a series of activities over the course of the year to raise funds for Take This’ services, including a week-long bike ride. More details are to be announced soon. The publisher will also donate a percentage from the sales of The Town of Light to the charity – a game which itself explores the theme of mental health. To promote the title and raise awareness, Wired just released a free demo of the title on PS4 and Xbox One.
Wired Productions’ managing director Leo Zullo (pictured) commented: Although issues concerning mental health are beginning to be talked about more openly, the job of raising public awareness is far from complete. Our aim over the next year is to bring much needed funding to partners such as TakeThis, as well as other charities operating at local, national and international levels. The gaming community is such a caring collective, and we welcome its assistance in helping us bring these much needed support services to those that need it most.”
Shannon Gerritzen, executive director at TakeThis, added: The stigma around discussing mental health exists. To see companies, like Wired Productions, in our gaming community take positive steps to ensure people know they are safe to discuss these topics, and that they should be discussing them, is a huge win. We are honoured to be partnering with Wired on this initiative. We tell people all the time that it is okay to say, ‘Today I am not OK.’ This effort helps us amplify that message and we are grateful for the platform.”
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, and the government’s Disabilities Champion for the games sector,also supports the campaign: The games industry has always been a hugely welcome place that is home to people with all kinds of abilities. One in 10 people working in the games sector reportedly experience some kind of mental health issue. To see the industry backing a campaign to raise awareness about various forms that this may take is a hugely welcome move. Equally, interactive entertainment and games are a fantastic medium to explore difficult issues, as evidenced by Emily Mitchell, 2017 BAFTA Young Game Designer winner who created Fractured Mind. It’s fantastic that Wired Productions are promoting games as a creative vehicle to explore these issues.”
If you’re interested in supporting Wired Productions and Take This or want to get involved, you can contactfundraising@wiredproductions.com.
