Astralis and Amnesty International Denmark are launching a new campaign to combat online offensive behaviour and foster a safe and welcoming gaming space for all.

Many young people find joy and camaraderie in gaming, a positive hub and a necessary escape in their daily lives. The gaming community is mainly supportive and inclusive. However, there are still instances where young individuals encounter offensive behaviours in games like Counter-Strike.

Unfortunately, some parts of the gaming community harbour a hostile atmosphere, with young gamers sometimes face homophobic, racist, or sexist remarks.

Astralis and Amnesty International Denmark now want to tackle this issue head-on.

For Astralis, gaming represents friendship, unity, and inclusion. We aim to bolster the safe gaming culture through their partnership with Amnesty and spearhead new initiatives. We aim to enable the youth to resist and report hateful and harmful behaviours.

The Amnesty Challange: Exclusive Amnesty map in CS:GO

As a part of this initiative, Astralis has created an exclusive Amnesty map in CS:GO, named "Amnesty Challenge", targeting students from grades 8 to 10. This map, emphasizing LGBT+ issues, freedom of speech, and fake news, aims to nurture a deeper understanding of equality and human rights.

This map is vital for including educational institutions in Amnesty's ongoing engagement with the youth.

You can download it for free right here.

Mads Rasmussen, Partnership Director at Astralis:

- Gaming and esports have grasped an entire generation and are attracting a rapidly expanding audience in Denmark and globally. It's about sport, entertainment, fostering social connections across different groups, and facilitating learning, all of which we at Astralis are committed to nurturing and expanding.

- However, gaming encounters challenges, particularly when girls feel compelled to use pseudonyms to evade sexism or when they face offensive, homophobic, or racist behaviour online. Sadly, this is a mirror of what we see on social media, and it is a trend we are determined to change in the gaming sphere.

- It is a massive undertaking that Amnesty and we need help to handle. But starting with mutual respect is vital for us to advance further. We believe that, united, we can change perceptions about appropriate or inappropriate behaviour. When everyone participates and contemplates their actions, we can indeed make a positive impact, says Mads Rasmussen.

Furthermore, the campaign plans to unveil an educational module this fall.

Among other activities, Amnesty will tour public and vocational schools nationwide, sharing a unified, encouraging message and urging the youth to contribute to fostering a positive change.