Bandai Namco, the publisher of The Elden Ring, has pledged 100 million yen, or about £650,000, to help Ukraine's humanitarian aid efforts in the wake of the war between Russia.
"Bandai Namco group has decided to donate 100 million yen to Save the Children to support their humanitarian causes for people affected by the Ukrainian crisis and seeking asylum abroad," the company said through a statement shared on its social media channels.
"We hope that the people and communities affected by this crisis will be able to return to the days of peace as soon as possible."
Interestingly, unlike many other gaming companies, the Japanese company did not announce the withdrawal of its products or game sales from the Russian market during the ongoing conflict, such as Elden Ring, nor did it explicitly condemn the Actions of the Russian government.
Ukraine's deputy prime minister recently pressed for video game companies and esports organizations, particularly PlayStation and Xbox, to put more pressure on the Russian government, resulting in publishers and developers such as Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft suspending sales of new games in Russia. Epic Games also suspended sales of its products in Russia, but chose not to completely limit communication with Russians in order to "maintain all channels of dialogue."
Within the gaming industry, companies have responded, including by making substantial donations to humanitarian organizations and supporting staff in Ukraine.