To contain the infectious COVID-19 virus, countries enforced lockdowns since the first quarter of this year. And due to these lockdowns, millions of people are staying home 24/7 for the first time in recent history. As a result, many have turned to gaming—be it kids or adults. Some of the most popular games that were played during lockdown are Fortnite, League of Legends, Minecraft and Valorant, among others.
With the surge of people playing games, gaming and tech companies saw it as an opportunity to host charity events that can raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. One such event is Fortnite’s #GamersVsCovid Charity, hosted by the premier Esports platform, ScrimToWin.
In collaboration with Razer, Logitech G, and Streamlabs, ScrimToWin first announced the event on April 24 of this year. The said charity is in support of Direct Relief’s COVID-19 Fund for Community Health. Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization that has supplied millions of personal protective equipment to health workers. All the proceeds of the event would go directly to the organization.
The event kickstarted on April 26. Team SoloMid’s ZexRow and Reverse2k, YouTube star Michelle Phan, former NBA player Nate Robinson, and fan-favorite content creators hosted the event. Anyone can enter the free creator qualifiers and even watch the live stream. Furthermore, Logitech G and Razer sponsored the grand prizes for the event. Some of these are high-tech gaming laptops, monitor, mouse, and keyboards. There were also giveaways to be won, courtesy of other sponsors.
How the Fortnite Streamathon Works
Those who wanted to participate in the tournament need to join a qualifier tournament hosted by fan-favorite content creators and pro gamers. The event’s 12-hour Twitch stream, which starts at 8 AM PST, features one creator qualifier per hour.
Duiring the qualifier round, two matches are held per hour. For this round, players join Fortnite in Arena Solo. The winners were selected by placement, with the Top 5 advancing to the Finals. The Final Round is still played in Arena Solos. However, it was done in the best of 3 matches. The placement points were as follows:
- 1st in rank – +7 points
- 2nd in rank – +5 points
- 3rd-5th in rank – +3 points
- 6th-8th in rank – +2 points
- 9th-10th in rank – +1 point
If you missed the event, you can still watch the recorded stream on ScrimToWin’s Twitch Channel.
A Successful Fortnite Charity Streamathon
The one-day charity streamathon turned out to be a success. With the collaborative efforts of the hosts, sponsors, and those who joined the event, they raised $32,000 in total. In addition, the event also gained overwhelming responses from the co-founders.
Co-founder of ScrimToWin, Timothy Tello, said that he was amazed by the response of the gaming community. In addition, he was happy to see a community helping another community. Even ScrimToWin’s Senior Marketing Manager was overjoyed by the turnout of the event. He added that it was great seeing how creators, players, and brands joined forces for a meaningful cause.
Tournament Results
Here is the final standing of the Gamers vs COVID Fortnite Charity Tournament. Scrim2Win published the results on their official Twitter page.
- 1st – KenoFn on YT
- 2nd – Chubbyturtel58
- 3rd – Vrxrr
- 4th – Geu
- 5th – YahnkySpanky
- 6th – Vex on youtube
- 7th – Jbowfishy
- 8th – oDxnied.
- 9th – Beerbellyjellitv
- 10th – EpikSharprr
This successful event just proves one thing—charity efforts through gaming is possible, even in such trying times. Not only were the participants having fun, but they were also able to reach out and help people who are at high risk of the pandemic as well. With the success of this event, there will be more charity tournaments emerging soon. Not just COVID-related fundraisers, but for other causes as well.
