As Russia intensifies and moves closer to occupying Kyiv, the award-winning survival video game ‘The War of Mine’ has seen its popularity peak multifold.

Unlike battle royale games like “PUBG”, “Call of Duty”, this game provides an insight into civilian survival efforts left behind in a war zone. The other games primarily feature players as combatants. In war, not everyone is a soldier, reads the tagline.

The game can be related to the present situation in Kyiv and Kharkiv giving players to empathise with the general population of Ukraine says a report in New York Times.

The game, from Polish developer 11 Bit Studios, is one of several examples of modern technologies besides video games, that the younger generation is relying on to communicate and explain the war.

“I think if it makes people understand what’s happening on the other side of the border, that’s all we’re trying to do,” Pawel Miechowski, head of communications for 11 Bit, was quoted by New York Times.

According to reports, 11 Bit has seen sales of the game soar 2,500 percent since the invasion began last week, a significant rise for an eight-year-old game. The company said it will donate all profits from sales through at least this Thursday (3 March) to the Red Cross’s Ukrainian relief efforts. In just the first four days of the war, the company’s profit figure stood at $715,000.

“There’s something about virtual reality and augmented reality that is very suited to war because VR and AR can convey war’s dilemmas like nothing else,” said Alexey Furman, a Kyiv resident was quoted by the New York Times on the popularity of video games and AR games in the backdrop of Ukraine war. “What do you feel when the sirens go off? What does it feel like when you have to flee?”

On March 2, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has urged “all game development companies and esports platforms” to halt any business in Russia following the 24 February full-scale invasion into Ukraine.