Gears of War developer The Coalition has pledged one per cent of all future net revenue from the franchise to suicide prevention charities, and has announced Crisis Text Line as the studio’s first partner.
The commitment was revealed by studio head Mike Crump on Xbox Wire, who stated that Gears of War “has always stood for belonging,” and called out an “epidemic of loneliness” that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today, we are proud to announce that The Coalition will donate one per cent of net revenue from all Gears of War games and merchandise to organizations working to prevent suicide and combat loneliness through mental health advocacy,” said Crump. “This is a multi-year commitment our studio is making to give back to our community and create real-world impact.”
Crisis Text Line, the studio’s first partner in this initiative, is a free, 24/7 text-based mental health support and crisis intervention service available in the UK, Ireland, US and Canada. The service is available by texting ‘PAUSE’ to 741741 or WhatsApp at (443)-SUPPORT.
“In 2021, we had 1.3million conversations with texters who needed help with issues like anxiety, depression and suicide,” said Dena Trujillo, CEO at Crisis Text Line. “We’re honoured to partner with The Coalition & the Gears of War franchise to increase access to mental health support and suicide prevention services. Partnerships like this are so critical to addressing the mental health crisis in America and reaching our vision for an empathetic world where nobody feels alone.”
While Crisis Text Line is the developer’s first partner, Crump noted that “as we continue to grow and evolve this program, we hope to be able to partner with more organizations around the world.”
Elsewhere in gaming, Babylon’s Fall’s servers are set to close early next year, a week before the game’s first birthday.
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