Tomorrow (October 10th) is World Mental Health Day, and the developers of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice have announced that they’ll be donating all the proceeds from tomorrow’s sales of the game to charity in recognition of the occasion. UK charity Rethink Mental Illness will be the beneficiary of Hellblade‘s profits. “Rethink Mental Illness exists to support and campaign for those severely affected by mental illness,” developer Ninja Theory wrote in their announcement. “They help millions of people affected by mental illness by challenging attitudes and changing lives. We are delighted to be supporting this important work with this donation.”
The game itself combines action-fantasy gameplay with a story about mental illness. Hellblade‘s protagonist, Senua, suffers from psychosis, and the game’s plot and mechanics revolve around Senua’s journey into the hellish underworld constructed within her own embattled mind. Senua’s psychosis manifests itself in visions and voices that were created to closely resemble lived experiences of people with mental illnesses who consulted on the game.
Ninja Theory broke the news with an accompanying accolades trailer for the game, and it showcases a different variety of accolades. Rather than a few choice blurbs from critics and reviewers, Hellblade‘s accolades trailer is comprised of fan screenshots from the game’s photo mode and messages sent to Ninja Theory from players who have identified with the game and its protagonist. Hellblade has been praised since its release for its treatment of mental health, and the trailer is a touching reminder of how powerful gaming can be. If you haven’t yet purchased Hellblade, consider picking it up tomorrow.
You can check out the accolades trailer (and the lovely messages of Hellblade‘s fans) below. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is available now for PC on Steam and for the PlayStation 4.