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A new Kickstarter campaign, launched today, aims to get a video game with a very vegan message to consoles across the world. That is, that the greatest superpower of all is compassion.
Vegan strongman Patrik Baboumian is behind the concept of the game, called EARTHRAISER – GAIA’S WISH. It’s based on his 2021 comic book with a similar concept.
Both the comic book and the upcoming action game center on a vegan superhero, named EARTHRAISER, who aims to give a “voice to the voiceless” by defending and liberating animals of all species.
EARTHRAISER plot
The game’s story begins with Gaia, a 12-year-old animal-lover who lives in Berlin and volunteers at a farm sanctuary every day after school. When a fire ravages the farm, leaving many animals dead, the heartbroken Gaia makes a wish upon a falling star. The student asks for a guardian spirit to protect all animals from cruelty, and to punish those who harm them.
Elsewhere in the world, a fallen soldier named Wolf Winter resurrects in a secret military base, where animals are being kept for experiments.
Wolf transforms into a berserker (a fierce warrior often featured in medieval Germanic history), and in a rage, destroys the facility. He later wakes up in a forest – now back in his human form – and learns that the military are hunting him.
Wolf escapes to Berlin, where he meets Gaia and her mother, Minna. He learns that he has gained the ability to experience the pain felt by all life near him, including non-human animals, who he can now communicate with.
Gaia believes Wolf is the guardian she had wished for. But as the story unfolds, she comes to learn that she too, along with her generation as a whole, possesses the power to protect planet Earth and those who inhabit it.
And – spoiler alert – it is ultimately Gaia who saves Wolf from the chief villain, Dr. Z. Geist.
The player of the game controls Wolf as both a human and a berserker; each form comes with its own abilities and complications. EARTHRAISER – GAIA’S WISH also includes 20 animal and human rights activists as Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in the game. This, the gamemakers stress, is an effort to pay tribute to the “important work these unsung heroes do to help the most vulnerable in our world.”
An action game centered on empathy
Baboumian – a vegan of more than 10 years and one of the strongest people in the world – believes the game can open minds and hearts about animal suffering.
“The EARTHRAISER story should inspire us all to protect animals and nature, and increase our levels of empathy for other animals, both human and non-human,” he said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.
“I sincerely believe that this video game can change millions of minds and hearts, and benefit those who can not speak for themselves. Of course, we want to create entertainment and immersion through this game, but we also want to inspire millions of people and help them see the world from a very different perspective, thus creating positive change within their own lives.”
“Ultimately, we can all be EARTHRAISER! It is up to our generation to work together and generate the change we need to protect animals, nature and the planet we live on.”
Kickstarter campaign
To help get the concept off the ground and onto screens sooner, Baboumian assembled a mission-driven team and launched a crowdfunding campaign.
The campaign, which is shooting for an initial goal of €250,000, would help fund a 30-minute playable demo. This would ultimately grow into a feature-length video game for PC and later, XBOX and PlayStation.
“Your actions define the future of all life on Earth,” the teaser trailer for the game states. “You are the EARTHRAISER … sent to protect all life on Earth.”
Those interested can view the EARTHRAISER – GAIA’S WISH Kickstarter campaign here.
