Characters In Popular Video Games Raise Awareness On Difficulties Of Long COVID

Imagine you’re a character exploring the terrains of some of the most popular video games: Elden Ring, Minecraft, and The Witcher 3. However, instead of crushing every quest and advancing to the next stage, you’re overcome with fatigue, breathlessness, and even black out.

That’s how Long Covid Europe hopes to raise awareness about the long-term effects of the disease, which, to date, has over 200 symptoms that could stem from its impact on an individual’s organ systems.

To do this, the organization teamed up with the creative agency Saint Elmo’s to create downloadable settings for the aforementioned video games that allow for those spared from the effects of Long COVID to really feel how it is to live with the debilitating condition.

Apart from fatigue, the games aim to shine a light on the lesser-known symptoms of the illness, including Exertional Intolerance, Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM), Unsatisfying Rest, Cognitive Dysfunction (Brain Fog), and more.

And the safest way to educate the public about this? Through gaming characters. In the modified scenarios, players will experience first-hand as the recognizable personalities suffer from exhaustion, lack concentration, take longer to regain power, and miss targets they’d normally hit.

In order to boost the visibility of these modified games, Long Covid Europe engaged popular streamers to broadcast these modes to the world, encouraging their viewers to make a donation to support the fight against the disease and its long-term effects.

[via Muse by Clio and Euronews, images via Saint Elmo’s]