A new season of Fortnite has just launched, and developer Epic will be donating all of its proceeds from the first two weeks to Ukraine-related humanitarian efforts. The action will last from March 20th through April 3rd, and will include all “real-money purchases” in the game, which means purchased V-bucks, subscriptions, gifted battles passes, and certain cosmetic packs. (Epic notes that “using V-Bucks in Fortnite will not be included as those are not real-money purchases.) It will also include retail gift card purchases so long as they’re redeemed during the two-week window.
As part of the effort, Microsoft Xbox will also be “committing their net proceeds for Fortnite during this time, so that we can get more aid to the people of Ukraine.” Funds will be donated to a few different organizations, which include Direct Relief, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Food Programme. The developer says that it will add more supported organizations “in the coming weeks.”
Epic says that it will be sending funds to these organizations as “quickly as we can. 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.”
Just one day after the announcement, the developer revealed that it has already raised $36 million as part of the effort.
The launch of a new Fortnite season is likely one of the most lucrative periods for the game, with players buying into the new battle pass in order to get exclusive characters and other in-game content. This season, called “Resistance,” features a big shift with the removal of building, alongside the notable addition of Doctor Strange and other characters.
Other gaming companies have similarly been raising funds for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. A huge bundle of nearly 1,000 games on Itch.io raised more than $6 million, while Humble Bundle is currently raising funds through a bundle that has raised more than $12 million. Epic’s Fortnite fundraising efforts will run until April 3rd.
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