Fortnite is raising money for Ukraine, with over $50 million raised so so far.
On March 19, video game company Epic announced that all proceeds from Fortnite for the next two weeks would go to humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
Fortnite, which was a breakaway popular video game released in 2017 that continues to see massive popularity, is a battle simulator in which players can choose either a free-for-all last-man-standing fight, cooperative defense-shooters, or a small team survival game. Its first year saw over 125 million players and generated $9 billion in gross revenue, and it has won Best Video Game in both the Kid’s Choice and Teen’s Choice awards. While the basic, Battle-Royale-style game is free to play, the platform earns money through the sale of cosmetic upgrades to your character and other in-game purchases.
What they are pledging to donate to Ukraine is the gross purchase price of all in-game and retail purchases and subscription renewals between March 20 and April 3, excluding taxes and third-party platform fees.
“We’re not waiting for the actual funds to come in from our platform and payment partners, which can take a while depending on how the transaction was processed. As transactions are reported, we’ll log them and send the funds to the humanitarian relief organizations within days,” says Epic’s website.
Funds will go to on-the-ground aid efforts, including Direct Relief, UNICEF, the U.N. World Food Programme, and the U.N. Refugee Agency, all of which are already working to support Ukrainians both in the country and as refugees. These organizations are providing transportation, shelter, safe food and water, emergency medical care, and legal aid.
An update posted by Epic on Tuesday, March 22, says that the effort has already raised $50 million to be sent to support the people of Ukraine. Epic has also cut off new sales to Russian players as of March 7.
“We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open,” wrote the company in a Twitter statement.
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