Fortnite raises $144m for Ukraine relief funds

Striving to meet and confront prominent issues around the world, Epic Games announced on 20th March that it would be donating 100% of proceeds from in-game sales until 3rd April to humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

In a recent blog update, Epic stated that the company had raised $144 million over the two-week period to donate to charities supporting relief for Ukraine. Even for a massive battle royale game like Fortnite, raising $144 million was a major endeavour and required planning and teamwork from the Epic Games Team and millions of players.

Epic Games Fortnite donates $144m to Ukraine

Epic Games began raising money for relief efforts the same day they launched the Chapter 3 Season 2 update. New chapters and seasons tend to bring in a massive swarm of new players and motivate those who play consistently, so the update came at an excellent time. The release of a new season also comes with new cosmetics, prompting fans to spend more on items they've been waiting for.

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After just one day, the company raised $36 million, according to a Twitter post by Epic Games. That number quadrupled by the end of the two weeks. The effort was in collaboration with Xbox, which also agreed to donate all net proceeds from Fortnite from 20th March to 3rd April for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

The charities involved in the awesome work include Direct Relief, UNICEF, United Nations World Food Program, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and World Central Kitchen.

"[These charities] are on the ground providing emergency aid, including health support, food and clean water, essential supplies, legal aid, and shelter," Epic Games stated in a blog post.

Fortnite says they will send the donations to charities nearly immediately rather than waiting to transfer the funds, which can take several weeks to months. Both the player base and game developers should be proud of the impact they have and will continue to make for humanitarian relief overseas.

For more updates on Fortnite and other battle royale games, and to stay in the know about what's going on in the Fortnite community, check our Battle Royale section regularly.

Featured image courtesy of Epic Games.