From a fundraising event on Twitch to a five-week charity tournament, the industry is emphasizing a sense of unity amid the current global pandemic.
With the goal of supporting those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, many esports and gaming organizations are coming together to host livestream events amid the global pandemic that currently sees almost all Americans social-distancing to curb the crisis.
Esports franchise Tempo Storm will host a four-day livestream event to raise money and awareness for charities involved in the relief effort, including Feeding America, a network of food banks; and CARE, a humanitarian organization that provides disaster relief to areas in crisis.
The livestream, titled "Tempo's Sleepless Nights," will begin March 27 and run 24-hours a day through March 30 on Tempo's channel via the Amazon-owned Twitch platform. In addition to many games and creators making appearances, viewers will have the chance to connect with the community during the online event.
Tempo Storm is founded by Andrey Yanyuk and commonly features Hearthstone, Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG players and personalities.
Elsewhere, esports companies Gaud-Hammer Gaming Group, Ultimate Gaming Championship and Beasley Esports are partnering for Shutdown Showdown, a five-week Apex Legends charity tournament "to promote and reward those fighting against the spread of COVID-19 by staying home."
The event, running from March 31 through April 28 via Twitch and Mixer, will involve teams competing against each other in matches on UGC's competitive gaming platform.
Safety messages, urging the gaming community to stay home and practice health habits, will be integrated throughout the broadcast. Proceeds from the event (including 40 percent of each registrant's fee) will go to national nonprofit campaign No Kid Hungry.
"The gaming community is tightly-knit and the instinct to come together is strong, especially during this time of global crisis," said Anthony Gaud, CEO of Gaud-Hammer Gaming Group.
He continued to say, "The 'Shutdown Showdown' was conceived as a means to utilize the time gamers are being asked to stay indoors into something meaningful and impactful. With proceeds going to 'No Kid Hungry,’ this event will help provide vulnerable kids with nutritious food during these extremely uncertain times. If successful, the 'Shutdown Showdown' will continue after the COVID-19 crisis has passed, so that gamers can continue to make the world a better place."
Meanwhile, publisher Take-Two Interactive continues to support Covenant House, which provides services for homeless youth, and is now facing the need to create isolation areas for those exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus.
With many of its members employed in the hospitality industry, 85 percent lost their jobs over the last few weeks since the pandemic put a stop to all non-essential work. Among Covenant House's 18 U.S. locations, 12 are currently affected by Shelter-in-Place or "Safer at Home" mandates, which has caused costs to spike and facilitated the need for emergency plans.
