You wait for almost a year for one of your favorite games, Advanced Wars 1+2 , to be remastered, only for it to be delayed even further because of international conflict.

Video game companies like Nintendo are choosing to delay video games that depict war in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, as their way of saying they are not trying to profit from the war.

While that sentiment is good, it does not do much to aid the people that are truly impacted and suffering. Ukrainian refugees on the ground need food, water, and other supplies to reduce the pains caused by the war.

Delaying video games because of political conflict does not help the issues caused by war. Instead, companies need to advocate and set up methods to help those in times of crisis.

Video game companies should look into other options instead of delaying their video games. Such options could include raising the prices of their games and donating these profits to charities helping the region.

One game company that is already doing something like this is Epic Games. Epic Games’ Fortnite allows players to use virtual currency to buy skins and other cosmetics. While Epic Games did not raise prices of the virtual currency, they did give a portion of the profits from these in-game sales to charities that support Ukraine.

Many companies that develop video games centered around war have donated a part of their profits, and have sold in-game content that promotes peace, with this money going War Child’s Armistice.

War Child’s Armistice is a charity that goes to aiding children that have been caught in conflicts and wars that include more than just the war in Ukraine. If companies donate to charities like these, they are directly helping people in need no matter which continent the war is on.

Video games relating to war have not been delayed in past wars, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Georgia-Russia conflict. While one could argue video game companies are making decisions based on region, they are making directions based on today’s culture.

There are people on the internet who read too far into things and make a bigger deal than it has to be, and video game companies want to avoid hassles and bad publicity.

This comes at a point where companies are appealing to a culture that wants to say they are in support without doing the effort that same support entails. People, as well as video game companies, need to directly help the people in dire need rather than play the semantics of appearing helpful.

Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.