The mobile game funding a revolution in Myanmar
Technology
The app-based mobile game is based on "real events" in the country
(News Web) -When soldiers in Myanmar arrested Ko Toot's friend and his pregnant wife after the February 2021 coup, he became so angry he decided to join efforts to remove the military from power - by using his IT skills.
The app-based mobile game that he developed is based on "real events" in the country and has proved a hit - incensing the ruling junta and raising funds for the anti-military resistance.
"They had never done a single criminal thing in their lives," said Ko Toot of the couple, who were detained for supporting the pro-democracy movement.
He didn't know what had happened to them. The BBC only recently established the woman was released within a day, but the man was held for about a year and a half.
After their arrest, Ko Toot then heard the military had detained the wife and infant daughter of a pro-democracy activist it had been unable to locate.
"Imagine you are a young child and you grow up inside a dirty, stressful and sadistic prison, and you have no idea what's going on. It made my blood boil."
So Ko Toot, who works as an IT professional, decided he had to be part of the movement to oust the "cruel and dangerous" military - and began working on his game.
Ko Toot spoke to the BBC by text message on an encrypted app, and would not reveal his location. We are using a pseudonym for his safety.
Myanmar descended into almost full-scale civil war after the coup.
More than 4,000 people have been killed by the military since then, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group. The UN says the death toll is "likely to be far higher".
Gauging troop casualties is hard - the military has acknowledged losses but not given a figure. The exiled National Unity Government says the resistance has killed 20,000 soldiers, but the BBC has not verified this figure.
Ko Toot's aim was to raise funds for arms and humanitarian aid for the anti-military forces known as People's Defence Forces (PDF), as well as increase awareness about the situation in the country.
"I felt that we had very limited international help and awareness," he said, comparing the coverage of the crisis in Myanmar unfavourably with that of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
His game originally launched as The PDF Game in early 2022.
It is free to download, but players watch in-game ads to raise money, and Ko Toot estimates proceeds raised so far total at least $508,000 (£403,000).
He estimates he now makes between $70,000 and $80,000 per month, and claims the figure is "increasing each month".
Players take the role of PDF soldiers fighting against military troops, and work through missions similar to real ones in Myanmar.
Ko Toot said he created characters based on real people fighting the military, including doctors, Muslims and members of the LGBT community.
He said it was important to document them because "they are fighting in a real war".
The game is available on both the Google and Apple app stores, although it had faced issues due to the companies' policies around sensitive events, Ko Toot said.
On Google Play it has been renamed "War of Heroes - The PDF Game". Google said it does not allow apps that "capitalise on or are insensitive toward a sensitive event", but that content is generally allowed if it "intends to alert users to or raise awareness" about the event.
The name also had to be changed on Apple's App Store, to "War of Heroes", before it was removed from the platform - this was a "huge blow", Ko Toot said.
Apple said the app violated its guidelines - notably that enemies in a game "cannot solely target" a "real government, corporation or any other real entity", as well as a policy around violent conflicts.
It has since been reinstated after Ko Toot made amendments, including to the original artwork, as well as the removal of some military missions.
"This is definitely good news, and we expect to make more income now," he said.
