'Forget Celebrations': This War of Mine creators say their 'mission to shed light on the civilian cost of war is far from over' as they announce new DLC for its 10th anniversary

To mark the 10^th anniversary of This War of Mine, a game that aims to simulate the horrors of war from a civilian perspective, developer 11 Bit Studios has announced that all-new DLC is on the way, with funds raised going to support multiple charities.

The new add-on, called Forget Celebrations, will return to the fictional nation of Pogoren to tell the story of Katia, a seasoned war correspondent writing a book about her experiences with "the brutal realities of war." When a missile strike destroys her home, she's forced into a struggle to survive, even as she continues her work.

"Today marks the 10th anniversary of This War of Mine," 11 Bit said. "A decade since its release, the game's mission to shed light on the civilian cost of war is far from over."

This War of Mine is a survival-management game that casts players not as heroic, indestructible soldiers, but as civilians caught in the middle of a brutal conflict, with no greater goal than to stay alive day to day. We called it "important, but unrelentingly cruel" in our 80% review from 2014: "One the most thematically interesting games of the year, but it's also very difficult to play."

Despite that difficulty, it's been a commercial hit, selling more than seven million copies and attracting a "very positive" rating on Steam across nearly 83,000 user reviews. It's also earned recognition outside of conventional videogame circles: This War of Mine was added to high school reading lists in Poland in 2020, and in 2024 it was given a Special Recognition Award by Amnesty International for its "continued relevance in portraying the harsh realities faced by civilians in conflict zones."

11 Bit Studios has continued to support the game with DLC and updates over the years, and used it to raise a significant amount of money for various charities in the process including $550,000 for the War Child charity and $850,000 for the Ukrainian Red Cross as of November 2022. That effort will continue with Forget Celebrations: "All studio proceeds" raised by the DLC (so, excluding things like Steam's cut, I assume) will be donated to War Child, Amnesty International, Liberty Ukraine, and Indie Games Poland.