Epic has announced that it has already raised $36 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine through Fortnite. After announcing that all proceeds from a new version of its hugely successful video game Fortnite will go to humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Epic Games said on Monday that it has already raised $36 million for war victims within 24 hours. Xbox is joining Epic Games to support the citizens of Ukraine by contributing to Fortnite’s net income during this period. Microsoft-owned Xbox has joined the donation, pledging to donate all proceeds from the game from March 20 to April 3. Xbox also helped by dropping the platform’s standard rates, which meant even more money went to humanitarian charities.
$36 million is the equivalent of the in-game sales revenue that started yesterday morning when the new season of Fortnite went live and millions of people got the new Fortnite Battle Pass. Just a day later, the official Fortnite Twitter account revealed that the company had raised $36 million (about 229 million yuan) in the first announced 24 hours. Both companies have pledged to donate any real-money Fortnite purchases between March 20 and April 3 to a range of relief funds, including UNICEF Direct Relief, UNWFP, UNWFP, and the United Nations Refugee Agency. As Epic Games previously promised, profits from the new Fortnite season will continue to go to Ukraine’s aid until April 3.
Together we’ve already raised $36 million USD for humanitarian relief for Ukraine. The funds will go to @UNICEF, @WFP, @Refugees, @DirectRelief. pic.twitter.com/JQESsGxDVt
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 21, 2022
With video games from Epic and Microsoft still promising just under two extra weeks for Ukraine, I’m sure the final amount is likely to be pretty good. The situation will probably improve a little after the first few days of the new season, but I can’t wait to see how much money will be raised by the end of it. A huge package from a separate showcase, while the Humbles “kit” reached over $10 million. Considering that Epic and Xbox still promise to earn just under two weeks in Ukraine, I’m sure the final figure will be quite unexpected.
The recently closed Itch.io Ukraine package has managed to raise a staggering $6.3 million in humanitarian aid, which is impressive considering Itch.io is several times smaller than Epic. On March 18, the digital video game showcase platform Humble Bundle launched a week-long fundraiser to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Recently we reported that Humble Bundles, standing with Ukraine, has raised over 3 million DP to help post-war humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. Not many people expected to see $36 million in one day in the 20th season of popular games. Epic reports that an impressive $36 million will be split between UNICEF, the World Food Program, UNHCR, and Direct Relief to support health, clean water, food, and other essentials for people affected by the war in Ukraine.
