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Devolver Digital’s co-founder, Mike Wilson, recently revealed that he has started a company called DeepWell Digital Therapeutics. Alongside the former CEO of Nextern, the company's goal is to make games that are fun, while also helping treat medical conditions.
The co-founders have been working on this for months, working on research and recruitment, but the announcement has been unveiled.
Devolver Digital’s co-founder starts DeepWell Digital, focused on therapeutic gaming
Mike Wilson made a very bold statement in the early parts of the video that revealed the company. The company's goal is to help people with their bodies and their minds through the power of gaming. Mike Wilson said:
“DeepWell is a company that’s going to help a lot of people feel better in their bodies [and] in their minds, [and] we’re going to do it with video games. They’re not even gonna know it’s coming, because they’re just going to be having fun.”
The developers pointed out that the games have to be fun and high quality, and that’s a focus as well. After all, nobody’s going to want to play them if they aren’t fun. According to the video, they have a board of nearly 40 people from the medical and gaming fields, who are helping to make sure these upcoming games are fun and helpful.
“DeepWell is bringing entertainment and medical science together to build upon the proven fact that video games can be good for you, and, thanks to global digital distribution, they’re an important tool to make treatment affordable and accessible.”
The former Devolver Digital developer pointed out that video games have often had a negative stigma in society for their negative impact on the body and mind, but they say their studies state otherwise.
According to the Devolver Digital developer and its co-founder, DeepWell Digital wants to make games that are fun, so patients and fans seek them out again and again. There are many ways a story-based game can be used to help people work through depression or other mental illness struggles.
Quite a few games in the past have been both entertaining, and have had a firm focus on mental health. This includes some of the biggest games of the last decade.
Video games with a focus on mental health
- Celeste (anxiety)
- The Last of Us (grief)
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (PTSD)
- Persona 5 (mental illness, grief, agoraphobia, etc)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (paranoia, paranoia schzophrenia, grief, depression)
While DeepWell Digital has not announced any games as of yet, they reportedly have plans to show that gaming can be a medicine and can help improve the lives of others. There are many ways to help people through the power of video games.
