Epic Games, Xbox raise $36 million from ‘Fortnite’ Chapter 3 Season 2 for humanitarian aid for Ukraine

Epic Games, along with Xbox, announced that they have collected $36 million of proceeds from “Fortnite” purchases since the game’s Chapter 3 Season 2 update went live on Sunday. The amount raised accounts for purchases for just one day and will be donated for humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

In Epic’s original post, the company committed to donating “all ‘Fortnite’ proceeds” from purchases made from March 20 to April 3. “Xbox is joining us in this effort and is committing their net proceeds for Fortnite during this time, so that we can get more aid to the people of Ukraine,” Epic said in the official statement.

Russian troops advanced into Ukrainian territory in late February that started an armed conflict between the two countries last Feb. 24. Per United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 3.4 million refugees have fled Ukraine as of March 20.

The proceeds collected by Epic Games and Xbox will be donated to several organizations, including Direct Relief, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency. “They are on the ground providing emergency aid, including health support, food and clean water, essential supplies, legal aid, and shelter. More organizations will be added to this list in the coming weeks,” Epic added.

Epic added that it will send the proceeds “as quickly as we can.” The company noted that processing payments could take days, so it will send the donations to the said organizations as soon as the “Fortnite” transactions are logged into its system.

For players who want to make a purchase to contribute to this effort, Epic noted that all “Fortnite” purchases with real money are part of the proceeds counted for the donations. That means players buying V-Buck packs, Fortnite Crew membership, Battle Pass gifts, and cosmetic packs bought with real money. “Retail store purchases … will also be included if they are redeemed in-game during this window,” Epic added.

If, for some reason, players do not want their money to be part of the humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine, Epic advises them to hold off on buying “Fortnite” items that require real money until April 4.

Photo by Vlad Gorshkov on Unsplash