Epic Games is donating all Fortnite proceeds to Ukraine for two weeks. A significant sum has already been raised.
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Fortnite players can now support Ukraine
© Epic Games
Updated March 31, 2022:
The Epic fundraiser for Ukraine (more info later in this story) continues to be extremely successful. Since its launch on March 20, Fortnite players have donated over $100 million to the campaign. This is what the Fortnite team shares in
a tweet
with. The fundraiser runs until April 3, 2022, so more money should be raised by then.
Epic donates 100 percent of all proceeds from 3/20 through 4/3/2022 in Fortnite via Standard Purchases, V-Bucks Purchases and Fortnite Crew Subscription Fees. Microsoft is participating in the campaign and will donate all net proceeds received through Fortnite on Xbox.
The donations go to the charities UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency, Direct Relief and World Central Kitchen. The donations are intended to help people affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Updated March 23, 2022:
As part of the Fortnite campaign for Ukraine, Epic Games, together with Microsoft’s Xbox team, has already raised a large sum within the first 24 hours. According to a tweet from the Fortnite creators, up to and including March 22, 2022
raised over $50 million
t that go directly to organizations supporting people affected by the war in Ukraine. The campaign itself runs until April 3, 2022. Epic and Microsoft are donating all income generated in Fortnite. You can read more about this later in this message.
Original message from March 21, 2022:
Epic Games is conducting a major fundraiser for Ukraine. All Fortnite revenue generated between March 20th and April 3rd, 2022 will be donated in full to Ukraine as part of the promotion. According to Epic, Microsoft is also involved in the campaign. Any Fortnite net earnings generated on Xbox over the two weeks will also be donated.
The campaign aims to support humanitarian aid projects that help people affected by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “These organizations are on the ground providing health, food, clean water, essential supplies, legal advice and shelter, among other things,” Epic said.
These organizations will receive the money, with Epic saying the names of other organizations to be added in the coming days: Direct Relief, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations World Food Program and UNHCR – The UN Refugee Agency.
Epic wants to quickly transfer the money to aid organizations
Epic wants to transfer all earnings generated in Fortnite during the said period to the charities as soon as possible to support them in helping the Ukrainian people. There is no waiting for Epic to receive the actual payments via platform partners and payment service providers, which can take some time. Instead, the reported transactions are forwarded directly to the aid organizations.
In the FAQ, Epic also explains that all transactions made with real money in Fortnite are taken into account. This also includes: V-Bucks packs, Fortnite crew subscription contributions, giveaway Battle Passes and cosmetic item packs. In addition, the proceeds from cards for V-Bucks and cosmetic items purchased at retail are also taken into account. All tickets already purchased and redeemed between March 20th and April 3rd are also taken into account.
On the other hand, all purchases made in Fortnite with V-Bucks are not taken into account because these are not real money purchases.
Epic also emphasizes in the FAQ that the campaign does not affect the “Support a Creator” program. Epic will pay out separately any earnings generated by Creators under this program between March 20th and April 3rd. Creators program participants who wish to use their earnings to help the people of Ukraine are encouraged to contact the relevant charities and help out themselves.
And what about Fortnite users who don’t want their money donated to Ukraine? For them, Epic has a simple recommendation: “If you do not want the proceeds from your purchase to be passed on to charities, we recommend that you do not make any Fortnite purchases with real money between March 20, 2022 and April 3, 2022 .”
