Epic Games has revealed that its Fortnite Ukraine Fund is ending with a final tally of $144 million, the money will go toward humanitarian aid in Ukraine and will be split between charities including Direct Relief, UNICEF, WFP, UN Refugee agency and WCKitchen.
The money raised through the battle royale game was based on real-money purchases made by Fortnite from March 20th through April 3rd which included V-Buck Packs, Fortnite Crew, gifted Battle Passes, and cosmetic packs counting toward the over all figure. The fund kicked off a day after the launch of Fortnite Chapter 3 Season which temporarily removed building from the game across all game modes. The total amount raised during that time also includes Xbox’s cut from all player purchases which easily crossed $36 million in a single day.
“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 Direct Relief, UNICEF, WFP, UN Refugee agency and WCKitchen,” Fortnite announced on Twitter.
Epic Games won’t actually be donating the one lump sum that it has accumulated over the two-week window as they have already donated the money. Throughout the Ukraine campaign, instead of waiting for the actual funds to come in, Epic has been logging any purchases and has been sending any “funds to the humanitarian relief organizations within days,” according to a March 20th blog post.
Epic Games’ choice to support the people of Ukraine follows Russia’s first attack on the country in late February. Since then Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov called on the game industry and platform holders to temporarily cease business with Russia, which companies like Microsoft and more have announced throughout the month of March.
