2020 was going to be an exciting year for gamers all over the world, but the recent COVID-19 pandemic has changed the course of action. From movies to video game releases getting delayed, we gamers are running out of games that we have at our disposal.
Don’t get me wrong, 2020 is still going to be exciting with the arrival of new next-gen consoles and with only a few titles delayed for their release, but the community has already begun to feel the ripple effect of the virus outbreak and has started stepping up, helping fight coronavirus.
Game publishers have started donating to coronavirus relief funds; research tools have started surfacing that use the processing power of idle computers and GPUs and conduct virtual experiments on volunteers’ machines without slowing down their systems.
While the times that we’re living in right now are certainly scary and historic, seeing the world come together to fight for a common cause is indeed inspiring.
Sony’s $100 Million COVID-19 Global Relief Fund
On April 2, Sony announced a $100 million global relief fund to support those around the world affected by the coronavirus.
The fund aims to provide support to those “engaged in frontline medical and first responder efforts to fight the virus,” children and educators who are facing challenges arising from school closures, and the members working in creative domains in the entertainment industry as they have been “greatly impacted by the spread of the virus.”
Rockstar Games Donates 5% of GTA Online and Red Dead Online Revenue to Fight Coronavirus
Rockstar Games, along with its parent company, Take-Two Interactive, have come together with their other software labels, 2K, Private Division, and Social Point, to provide needed support to local businesses and COVID-19 charities.
With local communities across “North America, the UK, India and beyond being deeply affected” by the virus outbreak, Rockstar Games steps up to help, by announcing to donate 5% of the revenue generated from the in-game purchases in GTA Online and Red Dead Online, to COVID-19 relief efforts, throughout the months of April and May.
Humble Bundle Offers Conquer COVID-19 to Raise Money to Fight COVID-19
Featuring more than $1,000 worth of games, comics, and ebooks just for $30, this new Humble Bundle offers a great deal for a great cause.
The Conquer COVID-19 bundle gets you a bunch of top-notch game titles, including Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition, Killing Floor 2, Sniper Elite 3, and much more. All of the proceedings of the bundle purchases will go to support organizations responding to COVID-19.
CD Projekt Donates Nearly $1 Million to Polish Charity Helping Healthcare Workers
The developers behind one of the most anticipated and awaited games of 2020, Cyberpunk 2077, have donated 2 million Polish zloty, almost $1 million, to an established NGO, Fundacja Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy, helping with COVID-19 relief in Poland.
Two million PLN was donated by the Board of Directors, and major shareholders and another 2 million came directly from the company itself.
Bottomline
Game publishers have started feeling the pinch from the neverending virus-crisis, ordering their employees to work from home and provide full support to the games and services, like fixing bugs and releasing updates for the upcoming months. And in spite of all of this, the companies, along with the whole community, have chosen to come together to rally in the fight against COVID-19.
