Epic Games and Microsoft Raise $144 Million for Humanitarian Relief in Ukraine
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When Fortnite’s Resistance update was released, publisher Epic Games had announced that it would donate all in-game proceeds collected from 20th March to 3rd April to humanitarian relief organizations in Ukraine amidst Russia’s invasion. Microsoft also joined in on the efforts and formed a joint initiative with Epic Games. The Fortnite publisher reported that both companies have collectively raised $144 million USD which will be distributed to five different charities.
The proceeds will be transferred to UNICEF and four other charities
Epic listed the charities that it will donate to, which include:
Direct Relief
UNICEF
UN World Food Program
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
World Central Kitchen
Epic will not wait for payments to be processed from its platforms and partners. Instead, the publisher has already started donating periodically as funds are processed to ensure the organizations get access to the funds faster.
Within the first day of announcing the initiative, Fortnite players helped raise $36 million which increased to $70 million in five days. The total collections crossed $100 million by the second week.
All of the funds were raised from V-Buck packs, Fortnite Crew subscriptions, gifted Battle Passes, and cosmetic packs such as the Voidlander Pack which are sold for real money. Retail store purchases of in-game cosmetics and V-Bucks cards were also included if they were redeemed between 20th March and 3rd April. Microsoft is contributing net proceeds from all sales of Fortnite content on the Microsoft Store from the same period.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on 24th February, with shelling and rocket attacks on several major cities including its capital, Kyiv, causing multiple deaths. Explosions were reported near the Kyiv airport and other cities causing martial law to be implemented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed his plans to take control of Ukraine and over a month has passed since the invasion began, the situation has not been resolved yet. The contributions by Epic Games and Microsoft are meant to help the citizens of Ukraine amidst the crisis.
