With the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine raging on, many members of the gaming industry have stepped up to raise funds for humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country. Humble Bundle’s “Stand for Ukraine” deal recently capped off its endeavors to raise funds for several relief organizations putting efforts towards the wellbeing of those affected by the war, with the organization raising over $20 million. In addition, popular streamers like Asmongold have raised significant amounts for the relief effort as well. Now, Riot Games has become the newest company to make a major donation to the humanitarian cause.
Riot Games has been no stranger to charity drives as the developer often features yearly charitable donations connected to the release of new League of Legends skin lines. Sales of the Elderwood Ornn 2020 Charity Skin from the end of 2020 through January 2021 raised over $7 million for the Riot Games Social Impact Fund, Riot’s charity organization that invests directly in humanitarian organizations around the world. Now, Riot has revealed the company will donate over $5 million to various humanitarian organizations aiding the Ukrainian relief effort.
Riot Games announced via its official Twitter account on Wednesday that the company’s recent charity drive had raised a total of $5.4 million for charity through the sales of League of Legends‘ newest set of Bee skins as well as the game’s most recent Battle Pass. Proceeds from sales of the previously mentioned items from March 5th to March 12th were all set to be donated with the $5.4 million being distributed between the International Medical Corps, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The large-scale donation from Riot is the most recent of a deluge of companies showing their support for the cause in Ukraine with many developers starting similar sales drives. Epic Games recently announced its flagship battle royale Fortnite would donate all proceeds for two weeks to the humanitarian cause starting on March 20th and running through April 3rd. Other gaming companies like EA and Sony have gone for methods targeted against Russia, choosing instead to suspend business in the country in protest of the war.
2021 was a year of significant growth for Riot Games, with the League of Legends developer seeing success throughout many different avenues during the year. The long-awaited League of Legends animated series, Arcane, saw widespread acclaim from both long-time fans of the franchise and newcomers, and Riot’s third-party “Riot Forge” program officially saw its first releases with both Ruined King and Hextech Mayhem launching late in the year. With more third-party games reportedly in development and Arcane‘s Season 2 in the works, Riot will look to repeat its success from last year moving forward.
