Ko Tut (pseudonym), an IT worker dedicated to the ‘People’s Defense Forces (PDF)’ in the armed struggle against the junta in Myanmar, has created a real war virtual game. The video game created by him is called ‘War of Heroes – The PDF Game’.
It is based on ‘true events’ that happened in Myanmar. The game has already shown success. In addition to increasing pressure on the country’s military junta, the necessary funds for anti-military resistance are also coming from the game.
The story of this game has emerged in a BBC report. For security reasons, the media identified him as Ko Tut, a pseudonym for the game’s creator, and his location has also been kept secret.
Ko Tut told the BBC about joining the anti-junta struggle. After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, his friend and his friend’s pregnant wife were arrested in the country. Tut became furious after this incident. He set a goal to destroy the country’s military regime by using his IT skills. Made a video game based on real battlefields and events. He published it in 2022.
The game is free to download. However, as part of receiving monetary funds, gamers are required to view in-game advertisements. Tut estimates that the game has raised $580,000 in funding so far.
Tut claims that he is getting 70-80 thousand dollars per month from the game and this number is increasing every month.
In the game, gamers take on the role of a PDF army and fight against the Myanmar military. And in fact, the army team works in the same way as the mission it conducts in Myanmar. Ko Tut’s game characters are doctors who become heroes fighting against the junta, members of the Muslim and LGBT communities. Ko Tut aims to raise awareness of the ongoing situation in the country as well as funds for PDF. To his dismay, the situation in Myanmar gets less coverage than the war in Ukraine and Russia.