- Epic and Xbox team up to gather funds for humanitarian aid for Ukraine
- All Fortnite proceeds from March 20 to April 3 will go for the cause
- Many other gaming companies and organizations are also donating
Epic Games announced that it will donate all funds from Fortnite from the period of March 20 to April 3 to organizations helping the humanitarian effort in Ukraine.
Epic Will Donate for Ukrainian Humanitarian Effort
Europe has not seen war as big as the one in Ukraine in almost 80 years. From the wave of refugees to skyrocketing prices, to many athletes being banned or otherwise unable to attend events, the war has had consequences outside the directly affected region. But one positive thing that came out of this war is that it showed the esports community’s solidarity.
With many organizations and individual players donating money to the humanitarian effort in Ukraine, some tech companies have followed that example. One such company is Epic, which promised to donate all proceeds from the company’s flagship game Fortnite from the period of March 20th to April 3rd, 2022, to humanitarian relief helping people affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
With Chapter 3, Season 2 starting on March 20, the campaign is likely to garner a lot of cash selling battle passes.
Xbox also joined Epic in this endeavor, and will also donate net proceeds for Fortnite during the same period. The official Xbox Twitter account also stated that a player can donate one’s Microsoft Rewards points through April 30th and Microsoft will match their contribution.
Funds gathered in this way will go to organizations like Direct Relief, Unicef, the United Nations World Food Programme. “They are on the ground providing emergency aid, including health support, food and clean water, essential supplies, legal aid, and shelter,” said Epic games in their official statement. The company also mentioned that more organizations will be added in the coming weeks.
Epic Is Following Others’ Example
Epic Games and Xbox’s donation campaigns follow in the footsteps of what many other organizations and individual players have done to aid the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis. Riot Games has already donated more than $3 million for humanitarian aid, and companies like Activision Blizzard have stopped their sales to Russian customers in condemnation of the war.
The war between Russia and Ukraine also hits very close for players. Both countries are famous for producing many pro players, many of which are now banned from competing, while others are stuck in Ukraine, not being able to leave. Those outside of the directly involved regions have friends and family in bombarded cities, like Kyiv. Such is the case for CS:GO pro s1mple, who recently donated $33 000 to the Ukrainian armed forces.
A lot of these company donations came after the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov urged companies to leave the Russian market.
