Epic Games via 'Fortnite' sales raises $114 million towards humanitarian aid for Ukraine

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, a lot of companies have extended their support to Ukraine and are helping the country with humanitarian aid. On 20th March 2022, Epic Games became the latest company to join forces with those in support of Ukraine. Epic Games announced that all its proceeds from Fortnite (through April 3, 2022) will be donated to organisations that are helping the war-affected people of Ukraine.

In an official post, the company mentioned that "Epic is committing all its Fortnite proceeds from march 20, 2022 through April 3, 2022, to humanitarian relief for people affected by the war in Ukraine. 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 Games' Fortnite raises substantial amount towards Ukraine relief

In a tenure of two weeks, i.e. from March 20, 2022, to April 3, 2022, Epic Games has raised $114 million and will donate this as humanitarian relief to support people in Ukraine. Epic Games will donate the amount to organisations like United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), The UN Refugee Agency and Direct Relief. It is important to note that this is one of the most substantial contributions made by a video game development company for Ukraine relief after Russia invaded the country. 

How did Epic raise such an amount?

The official post read, "All real-money Fortnite purchases made between 20 March 2022, and 3 April 2022, will be distributed. This includes B-Buck packs, Fortnite Crew, gifted Battle Passes, and cosmetic packs such as the Voidlander Pack sold for real money. Retail store purchases of in-game cosmetics and V-Bucks cards will also be included if they are redeemed in-game during this window." 

The official release also added, "100% of Epic’s Fortnite proceeds is equal to the gross purchase price of all Fortnite in-game purchases or retail purchase redemptions transacted between 20 March 2022, and 3 April 2022, from sales throughout the world, excluding taxes, third-party platform fees, refunds, returns, or reversals."