Id Software co-founder and Doom co-creator John Romero is using a new custom-made Doom 2 level to raise money for the Ukrainian people suffering due to Russia's ongoing invasion.
As our friends at PC Gamer spotted, Romero recently released a new Doom 2 map (or .WAD) called One Humanity. It costs €5 on the aptly named Romero shop, which notes that 100% of the proceeds will go toward supporting the people of Ukraine. Specifically, this level will support "the humanitarian efforts of the Red Cross and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund." As of March 8, the level had raised upwards of €27,000 (nearly $30,000) for the cause, as Romero confirmed on Twitter.
One Humanity is the first Doom 2 level that Romero's released in nearly 30 years. Note that you will need an original copy of the game and a source port to run it, just like you would any other custom level. If you're new to Doom mods, the Doom wiki has a handy guide on how to get these things up and running.
Earlier this month, indie studio Necrosoft Games began assembling a game bundle to raise money for Ukraine. In just over a week, the Itch.io bundle ballooned to nearly 1,000 games – including the likes of Superhot, Gonner, Figment, Inmost, SkateBird, CrossCode, and Celeste – and you can get all of them for $10. At the time of writing, the Bundle for Ukraine has raised nearly $3 million, which will be split between the International Medical Corps and Voices of Children charities.
In addition to fundraisers, the games industry responded to the attack on Ukraine by halting sales in Russia and Belarus, with Microsoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, and Ubisoft now pausing sales in the region.
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