A Belgian non-profit has launched “Virtual Donors”, a campaign embedded in popular video games such as Minecraft, Fortnite, and Baldur’s Gate 3 in a bid to boost organ donor registration.
Belgium operates an opt-out system, which means that citizens are automatically considered donors and need to formally object to opt-out. But the Leuven-based Re-born to be Alive organisation says formal registration remains important, as families are able to block donation if a person’s wishes are unclear, Belgian news agency Belga reports.
“We want to reach younger audiences through experiences that speak their language,” said NGO founder Stephanie Keustermans.
In the campaign’s customised gaming experiences, players who lose their lives in-game are able to grant up to eight extra lives to their friends – mirroring the fact that one organ donor can save up to eight lives in real life.
While the campaign is targeted at a Belgian audience, the customised experiences can be accessed by any player of any age in the three online games.
Fortnite was the most played video game in Belgium last year and Baldur’s Gate 3 the most streamed, according to figures from Video Games Federation Belgium. All three games have a daily player base in the millions internationally.
At the moment, 1,470 people in Belgium are awaiting transplants, even though the country has the highest number of donors – 31 per 1 million inhabitants – among the eight countries making up the Eurotransplant network. The non-profit organisation coordinates communication between donor hospitals and transplant centres.
Kidneys were the most frequently transplanted organ in Belgium in 2024, with 523 procedures. They were followed by liver, lung, heart, and pancreas transplants, according to national health authority figures.
(vib)
