The UK games industry and Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) have announced a new Games for Carers initiative designed to support UK medical staff on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic with free games and subscription services from dozens of publishers and developers.
National Health Service workers can head to the giveaway site here, enter their NHS email, and choose from over 85,000 free games to download and play, with offerings from major companies such as Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Xbox, and Konami.
“The UK games industry has been proud to play its part in conveying these vital public health messages during this national emergency." said Dr Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE, in an accompanying statement.
"Now our community has united again to say thank you to the truly extraordinary people who make up the NHS frontline team. Games companies of all sizes and players everywhere recognise their exceptional dedication and hope this initiative goes some way to help them to understand how respected and valued they are.”
Creative Industries Minister Caroline Dinenage also expressed her delight that "the sector is continuing to support the NHS in such an innovative way", stating that the government has "worked closely with games companies to help keep people safe" during these unprecedented times.
You can find the full list of participating companies in the Games for Carers initiative via UKIE's announcement page here, alongside more details about how to sign up if you're an NHS worker.
There are lots of other ways in which the video game world is coming together to provide relief as we grapple with COVID-19. Here are the efforts currently being made.
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