riot-games-mental-health-awareness

Riot teams up with the gaming-focused mental health nonprofit Take This to combat a growing trend.

In case you missed it, Riot Games - the masterminds behind League of Legends - is buckling down on the mental health issues in their own community and further afield. By partnering up with gaming-focused mental health nonprofit Take This, Riot aims to educate and support the community when it comes to mental health in gaming.

The partnership will see Riot providing Take This with the funding and resources needed to tackle the mental health issues faced by streamers, content creators and the gaming community at large with a two-pronged plan of attack.

First, Take This will be curating an entirely free "curriculum" for streamers and content creators. This series of online lessons, starting with Content Creator Burnout, will focus on topics including boundaries, addressing suicidal ideation in your community, intersectionality as a streamer, being a good mental health advocate, and self-care.

Next the duo will hone in on mental health in Black, Indigenous, and and other communities of colour (BIPOC) with a series of panel discussions. These panels will be headed up by a mental health clinician joined by gamers, content creators and game makers from BIPOC communities with a view to focus on the specific mental health needs of marginalised communities. All panels will be available via Take This' YouTube channel.

"We're excited to join forces with Take This to learn and benefit from one another's community as we pursue our shared goal of improving online spaces and providing mental health support to those who need it most," said Riot in its announcement post.

All in all, the partnership between this games industry titan and gaming-focused mental health nonprofit is one extremely welcome step in the right direction. Toxicity has slipped dangerous deep into gaming communities of all kinds while the trials and tribulations of streaming and content creation are becoming more stark. And with Riot's own League of Legends harbouring its fair share of toxicity, it's hard to think of a better dev to make strides in such a venture.
It goes without saying that prevention is better than cure, but if you're feeling low then don't forget that help is just a few clicks away.