USein Lin, a retired history teacher in Myanmar, has never played a video game in his life. But about a month ago, while scrolling through Facebook, he came across the War of Heroes — PDF Game.
Since then, he has been playing almost non-stop.
For Sain Lin, 72, killing the Virtual Myanmar Army is a way to take part in real-life resistance to the ruthless army of a country that has killed thousands of civilians after seizing power in last year’s coup. is.
Since its debut in March, Warof Heroes has been downloaded more than 390,000 times. Many players say they are motivated by the creator’s pledge to help fund Myanmar’s resistance and donate proceeds to help those exiled in combat.
“You can’t kill soldiers who are cruelly killing civilians, but killing them in games is also satisfying,” Sein Lin said. “For some reason, playing the game and clicking until I die will help the revolution.”
Myanmar’s army, known as Tamadu, previously ruled the country for half a century and has long been at war with its own people. Since expelling civil servants elected in last year’s coup, the administration has arrested opposition leaders, shot down unarmed protesters, bombed guerrilla camps, and disagreed by burning thousands of homes. I tried to crush it.
Opponents of many governments fled to the jungle, where they formed an army with more than 60,000 fighters under the leadership of the People’s Defense Force, or PDF, the Shadow National Unity Government of Myanmar. The same number of fighters in the city formed a semi-autonomous guerrilla unit known as the defense force of the locals.
The War of Heroes was created by three Myanmar-born developers who left the country on February 1, 2021 before the general took power. A colleague in the Myanmar industry who was involved in an anti-coup protest or was involved in his family.
The paid version of the game was released in mid-June and within a few days began to regularly appear on the list of top 10 games on Apple’s App Store in the US, Australia and Singapore. “People in Myanmar around the world are downloading it,” Toot said.
In the game, players take part in battles and kill regime soldiers, increasing their rank as the game gets harder. At a higher level, players can target civilian spies, turncourt celebrities supporting the junta, and coup leaders.
“You need to join the resistance to protect the innocent people from the evil army,” said the game’s App Store description. “Your duty is to join the People’s Defense Forces and become the best free fighter.”
The free version of the game makes money when players see ads. The paid version receives revenue when players download or buy ammo. As known protests in Myanmar, gamers who have played enough to earn $ 54 worth of games will participate in the Spring Revolution and receive a “Certificate of Achievement” by donating money. ..
So far, the developers say they donated $ 90,000. About one-fifth of that is used to help refugees. The rest was donated to more than 20 local defense groups.
Myanmar players need a VPN or virtual private network to circumvent Internet restrictions on access to games. To avoid arrests at checkpoints and random police outages, players uninstall the game from their mobile phones before going out and download it again after returning home.
The game attracted unlikely fans, such as Buddhist monks and members of the Bhikkhu.
U Pyinnyar Won Tha, a 32-year-old monk from Lashio, a town in northeastern Myanmar, is an avid player. The Buddha has told him not to kill the creatures, but he said the people of Myanmar need to protect themselves from the junta.
“Playing PDF games goes against the Buddha’s teachings, but we don’t feel guilty because we’re dead under the junta,” he said. “If someone is threatening our lives, we have to kill them just to protect ourselves. Otherwise, they can kill us at any time.”
He said the War of Heroes was the first battle game he played. The developer’s pledge to donate money to refugees and resistance fighters made him a fan.
“In true Buddhism, monks must be respected, but the junta tortures and kills monks,” he said. “So it’s fair to play games to give them karma.”
This game is very popular and some soldiers also play it. Since the coup, the number of North Korean defectors has increased. Those who remain in the army but oppose the administration are known as “watermelons.” The outside is the green army and the inside is red, which represents the democratic movement.
A soldier whose name has been withheld for his safety said he would escape if possible, but he knew that Tamadu would take revenge on his family. Instead, he said he would secretly provide inside information to the resistance to support the revolution.
He also plays War of Heroes.
“After the coup, I really wanted to kill the dictator generals and the soldiers who see people as their enemies,” he said. “But in my situation I can’t kill them in the real world. If the situation allows, I will.”
The game gives him an exit of his anger. “It feels good to kill Myanmar soldiers in the game,” he said. “At least I’m happy to be able to kill soldiers and make money for the revolution.”
Another fan is Ma Myat Noe Aye, a 28-year-old nurse who quit her job in protest of military takeover at a public hospital in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city. She fled to Liza, a territorial town controlled by rebels in Kachin State, where she volunteered as a People’s Defense Forces rescuer.
May, soldier Attacked and burned her home villageNay Pu Kone of the Sagaing Division has fled her relatives and 5,000 other people. “I lost my job,” she said. “My family has lost our farm and home. Now the whole family has to rely on the help of relatives. We have this revolution because there are so many families like us. Must win. Otherwise, we will all die under the administration. “
Myat Noe said her 56-year-old mother joined her at Liza and is now working as a cook for the People’s Defense Forces. She introduced War of Heroes to her mother and now an older woman plays every night before going to bed.
“Whenever she hated the army, she told her she could play games to relieve her stress and help the revolution,” she said. “When I play games, I feel the same. This revolution must be late.”
