Fact Sheet

Release Date: 25th May 2023

Platforms:

💻 PC: Steam/Early Access

Developer: Rockodile Games, Octobear Games Location: Turku, Finland Publisher: Lesser Evil Location: Munich, Germany

🔗 Links

Steam Kickstarter Linktree Twitter Instagram Website

📧 Contacts: General/Business: [email protected]

Why We Fight:

We are uncompromisingly anti-authoritarian, anti-racist, and pro-democracy. We publish video games with clear political or social intent and messaging.
Video games are this century’s most widespread, impactful, and important cultural medium. As works of human expression, they should be emotional and make the player feel something. That’s why we’re not afraid to create experiences based on our convictions.
We believe in making statements. We aim to initiate difficult discussions, spread awareness, and take a stand. Gaming is a politically and socially conscious medium – we should never apologize for this!
The Russian invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine represents the actions of a violent, Imperialist regime. The actions of the invaders constitute war crimes and acts of terrorism. We support every action of the Ukrainian people to rid their country of the occupation forces.

About the Game:

Death From Above is an arcade-style drone game set during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
You play as a Ukrainian military drone operator who fights enemy forces, salvages valuable equipment, and restores crucial communication lines disrupted by the conflict.
DFA is directly supporting the defense of Ukraine. We are donating 30% of the net game proceeds to two Ukrainian charities: Come Back Alive and Army of Drones. We will increase this donation to 70% after we break even.
We’ve already made the first donation, splitting €7,500 between Come Back Alive and Army of Drones, with an extra €2,500 donation directly from Lesser Evil going to Rescue Now to help the victims of the attack on Nova Kakhovka dam.
Most of the remaining 30% we will invest in further developing the game

https://youtu.be/zADYRGrEGNw

Game Features:

Interplay between operator and Drone

As you use up your drone's ammo, you must fly back to your operator's position to refill. Risk delving deeper into enemy-controlled territory for a quick and easy top-up, or stay at a distance to ensure your survival!
Clear the Ukrainian steppe of Russian invaders!

Seek, bomb, and destroy HQ camps, vehicles, and military depots; stay focused, and switch between top-down and third-person perspectives!!
Take over control towers to restore communication lines!

Patrol the area, neutralize defenses, then bring in the operator for a successful mission!
Recover stolen washing mac-ahem...Precious hardware!

The Russian forces are always on the lookout for any hardware they can grab. Keep on the lookout for any stragglers and recover this precious resource!
Accept the surrender of enemy forces

A consequence of conscription: not all of the enemy combatants want to be in Ukraine, or even the armed forces. These soldiers may try to surrender to you - grant their wishes!

Release Plans:

The game is being published by Lesser Evil Publishing, Hendrik Lesser’s newly founded Publishing label.
We’re currently available in Early Access on Steam. Early Access is a way to release a game which is still under development, to allow players to offer feedback on what they would like to see next and to iron out any final bugs. By releasing DFA in Early Access we encourage our early supporters to contribute to its ongoing state.
Death From Above is currently a short experience, and we want to gather a solid community to help us continue development by giving suggestions and feedback on the game.
Our plans for continued development include expansion of the mechanics and length of the game, as well as some new innovations which we can’t wait to show you. Development will continue as long as sales do!

<aside> 🇺🇦

We are not alone! We have gathered a powerful alliance of organizations and individuals supporting the cause of Ukraine's fight for freedom.

</aside>

Our Ukrainian Artists:

We’ve worked closely with several Ukrainian artists in the production of Death From Above, and we continue to bring their incredible work to the game as we move forward with development.
Musical partners - Alongside the exclusive soundtrack created for us by Ukrainian rock band Antytila, we also feature tracks from Surface Tension and Odarka. This spectacular OST is also available as a separate DLC on Steam.
Graphical artists - Death From Above features art from Rado Javor, Nazar Davydenko and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gdPxnwKYjM

Press Reception:

“Satire is finally an effective means of countering the ubiquitous Russian information warriors. The Russian troll will be defeated at its own game.” - Der Standard
“The game is groundbreaking in broaching a serious conversation among gamers and game developers.” - Dean Takahashi - GamesBeat
"I can't help but feel that the developer's message is that humane treatment of the enemy and peaceful resistance are more important than fighting.” - GameSpark.jp
**Other Coverage:
The Economist
Der Spiegel - TechRaptor - Deutsche Welle
GamesIndustry.biz**

Steam User Reviews:

We’re currently at 98% positive Steam reviews, a truly remarkable achievement.
"So many fantastic Easter Eggs, gameplay is fun! Will be buying more games from this dev in the future!”
"NCD and NAFO approved.”
"10/10 would sink land Moskva again.”
"Fantastic game! Ukraine always valiantly fought against oppressors, and this time won't be any different.”

Trailers

https://youtu.be/zADYRGrEGNw

Death From Above is our first game under the Lesser Evil publishing brand and our first statement. It’s a conscious decision to engage with a difficult zeitgeist issue that directly affects millions of people's lives in Ukraine and beyond, a decision that some might see as controversial.

<aside> 💡 Watch our Call to Arms, a speech by Hendrik Lesser, that is a cornerstone of Lesser Evil publishing.

</aside>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8C5-4zIFiI

While we embrace controversy and difficult conversations, we don’t believe in controversy for its own sake or the sake of sales.

We engage in these topics because we are convinced they are essential and that the power of video games can be a tool for political and social activism. Death From Above is no exception to that.

Also, we’re proud to help spread the message of support for Ukraine defending itself!

Partners

As mentioned before, 30% of net proceeds from the Steam release will be equally split between Come Back Alive and Army of Drones from the moment the game releases**. All donations made will support** non-offensive initiatives. Moreover, we will commit to 70% of net proceeds after we break even.

Army of Drones image.png

Come BAck Alive image.png

Aside from our charity partners, we have some other organizations that are offering their expertise in drone warfare to help us achieve our vision for "Death From Above" most effectively:

image (18).png

Support Links

Steam - Buy the game! **Linktree - Follow our socials!** Kickstarter - Check our past campaign and all updates!

About the Developers

Rockodile Games, a small team of three Finnish devs, have been rocking game development since 2013! They’re focused on Unreal Engine development and have been doing outsourcing work for a while, jumping into full-game development with DfA

About Lesser Evil

*We are Lesser Evil. We are uncompromisingly anti-authoritarian, anti-racist, and pro-democracy. We publish video games with clear political or social intent and messaging. Video games are this century's most widespread, impactful, and important cultural medium. As works of human expression, they should be emotional and make the player feel something. *****

That's why we're not afraid to create experiences that are based on our convictions. We believe in making statements. We aim to initiate difficult discussions, spread awareness, and take a stand. Gaming is a politically and socially conscious medium - we should never apologize for this! Want to know more? www.lesserevil.games