'Fortnite' Players Raised $70 Million For Ukraine, And That's A Huge Deal

In case there's any doubt as to which is the biggest game of all time, know that Fortnite just added a game mode that ditches 80% of what makes it fun, and it still managed to raise more money for Ukraine than all other games combined. On the very first day of its solidarity campaign, the Battle Royale phenomenon had already gotten its players to give away over $40 million, and those numbers have already gone past the $70 million mark. This is great news not just because of the direct help it is providing, but because it shows games can actually work when it comes to getting people to care about real-world issues, and even provide a good platform to act upon them. Imagine the answers we'd get if we'd tried to raise funds for an altruistic cause in Halo 3 back in '06?

 Apologies where apologies are due, it seems like Fortnite has come a very long way from the game that tried to honor Martin Luther King but ended up creating a monument to misguidedness itself.

More interestingly, Epic really seems to be doing this out of the company's own willingness to help, because they're not even waiting for the funds to clear – as soon as players make the pledge, Epic Games sends the money.

And despite being the clear champion, Epic Games is but one of many gaming companies actively helping. itch.io has created an amazing bundle you can get for an incredibly low price, while legendary map designer John Romero has created “One Humanity” an awesome new map for the original DOOM whose proceeds will go to help the survivors. Humble Bundle also deserves a lot of praise as they too had a great value bundle that gathered over $20 million for direct help.

All of these initiatives have raised very respectful amounts of money, and we can only hope this article will be extremely outdated by the time most people get to read it.

Top Image: Epic Games