As per the latest tally, the quarter of Humble Bundle, itch.io as well as Epic Games and Xbox, has raised a total of over $50 million in just a couple of days. Humble Bundle and itch.io raised $10.6 million and $6.3 million, respectively. The former launched the Ukraine Humble Bundle that contains a mix of hit and indie titles like Mega Crit Games’ Slay the Spire and Activision’s Spyro Reignited Trilogy, with up to 123 games depending on how much customers are willing to pay. Meanwhile, the latter offers 998 downloads for a mix of both video games and other media for a minimum donation amount of $10. Epic and Microsoft have raised $36 million in less than two days after pledging that all real-money transactions in Fortnite between March 20 and April 3 would go towards Direct Relief, UNICEF, UNWFP, and the UN Refugee Agency. Epic confirmed that it will add more organizations to the list. Epic timed its pledge to coincide with the release of Chapter 3 Season 2 of Fortnite. This all but guaranteed that hundreds of thousands of players from around the globe will spend money to buy the latest battle pass and cosmetics for Fortnite. Furthermore, Epic confirmed that it will send the funds as quickly as possible, declining to wait for the actual donation transactions to finish processing before sending the money over. The recent donation drive is one of many efforts from the video game industry as several companies band together to help support Ukraine. Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has gone on since February 24. In the meantime, numerous video game developers, publishers, and retail stores have pulled their businesses from Russia while donating a part of their proceeds to provide relief for displaced Ukrainians. With a little less than two weeks left for Epic and Xbox to raise more funds for Ukraine, the final number should balloon. The numbers usually taper off after the first few days of a new Fortnite season, but something tells us that the combination of Doctor Strange skins and news of the proceeds going to Ukraine, as well as Epic’s decision to remove the building mechanic from the battle royale shooter completely, will go a long way in helping the company raise even more donations until April 3.
