New Delhi: Fortnite parent Epic Games has raised $144 million for Ukraine relief efforts following the Russian invasion. Epic Games has said that it will be donating the amount from the game towards humanitarian efforts in Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia and the funds are being sent towards several aid groups such as UNICEF, UN World Food Program, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and World Central Kitchen as well as Direct Relief.
"Our deepest thanks to everyone who joined us in supporting humanitarian relief efforts for people affected by the war in Ukraine. Together with the Fortnite community and @Xbox, we raised $144 million USD for @DirectRelief @UNICEF, @WFP, @Refugees and @WCKitchen," Fortnite tweeted late on Monday.
Epic Games is not the only gaming company that is contributing towards humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. Earlier last month, League of Legends developer Riot Games had also raised $5.4 million, a bundle of nearly 1,000 games on Itch.io took in more than $6 million, and Humble Bundle managed to raise $20 million.
Earlier in March, the developer had also announced plans to acquire the online music platform Bandcamp which is an online music store and community where fans can discover, connect with and directly support the independent musicians they love.
"We could not be more excited to welcome the Bandcamp team to Epic Games," Steve Allison, Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games, had said in a blogpost.
"Bandcamp has built an incredible community and business where up and coming artists can succeed thanks to the direct support of their fans, with one of the best revenue models and terms in music," Allison added.
The company had said that Bandcamp will play an important role in Epic's vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more. "Bandcamp's mission is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans," said Ethan Diamond, CEO and co-founder of Bandcamp.
Bandcamp had said that it is working with Epic Games to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives.