Sony gamers' huge earthquake donation

By Tom Phillips Published 22 July, 2011

Over £1m raised.

PlayStation players have donated more than 129.7 million yen (over £1.01m) to Sony's Japanese earthquake appeal.

Thousands of gamers answered Sony's call for support following the devastating natural disaster in Japan earlier this year.

North American PSN users raised £260,955, those in Europe and PAL territories stumped up £538,122, while Asian countries other than Japan coughed up £16,673. Japanese gamers themselves put down £181,751.

The money is being donated to organisations in each region already supporting relief and recovery efforts in earthquake and tsunami hit areas. Beneficiaries include the American Red Cross, the British Red Cross for Europe and the Red Feather Community Chest Movement for Japan and Asia.

PSN users who donated have now been given several unique PS3 themes as a reward for their efforts.

Sony itself initially donated 300m yen (£2.34m), a figure matched by Nintendo. Sega, Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei were among other companies to make sizable contributions.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (50) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • captain_Carl #1 10 months ago

    Wow, go PSN! Impressive figure

  • wizlon #2 10 months ago

    I read that as 1 Million and 1 Penny, odd.

    But yeah, a very impressive figure.

  • Kellos #3 10 months ago

    That's from all the money we saved not having to pay for XBOX Live :-P

  • JoeGBallad #4 10 months ago

    Very good news, and a great use of PSN. It's great that they allowed PSN users to easily donate money through existing accounts.

  • arcam #5 10 months ago

    OK, I will be the asshole: £16,000?

  • jonbwfc #6 10 months ago

    We stumped up twice as much as the US PSN did? And yet you just know we'll get still get shafted when the Vita comes out.

  • bobfish09 #7 10 months ago

    @arcam,

    Most of the Asian console market is Japan. Consoles were banned in Korea up until last year and are still banned in China. The remaining territories are incredibly small (Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, etc).

  • Jolly_Armadillo #8 10 months ago

    North Americans are more interested in sueing them for money than donating to the earthquake appeal... Clearly.

    Good figures for Europe though, I knowi helped

  • Quak #9 10 months ago

    > North American PSN users raised £260,955, those in Europe and PAL territories stumped up £538,122, while Asian countries other than Japan coughed up £16,673. Japanese gamers themselves put down £181,751.

    And yet Europe continues to be last on Sony's list of priorities when it comes to releases and pricing.

  • coolbritannia #10 10 months ago

    I bought 2 Bungie wristbands.

  • chris_ace #11 10 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Eoin #12 10 months ago

    OK, I will be the asshole: £16,000?

    That's from Asian countries other than Japan, where Sony has an extremely limited presence with the PS3. There's roughly 1.8m PSN accounts based in the regions that Sony calls "Asia", versus 35m North American accounts, 21m PAL accounts, and 7.5m Japanese accounts.

    So PSN users from Asia actually contributed more, on a per-user basis, than PSN users from North America. I'd give precise figures but to be honest I'm not sure I want to turn this into a "which region is the most generous" competition, plus of course the figures are a bit skewed because of how easy it is to create multiple PSN accounts and the fact that it's good to have multiple accounts from multiple regions.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #13 10 months ago

    @chris_ace

    He's not arguing that we donated more per user.

    He's arguing Europe will be neglected even though we donated more money, and since we have a larger population that's more reason to not alienate the European user

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #14 10 months ago

    Are you guys seriously arguing over getting preferential treatment for a console launch, from a charitable campaign for a natural disaster that saw thousands die?

  • hazzatori #15 10 months ago

    Some disgusting comments here, i take it the vast majority of European donations were on the basis of getting a better deal in the future? there is a time and place to moan..

    I know my donantion wasnt to rebuild Sony plants or make sure that i got Vita £100 cheaper, i donated to support the famlies that lost people and rebuild there homes, provide food and drink...
    Edited by hazzatori at 22/07/11 @ 11:41

  • IMD1_Pk #16 10 months ago

    I've seen game studios raise more than that.... just saying :p

  • scuffpuppies #17 10 months ago

    Well done to everyone who donated, and it's nice to see Europe leading the charge for a change. You've made me proud.

  • Quak #18 10 months ago

    @hazzatori

    Good for you.

    I'd like to remind you though that this page isn't a shrine to those who lost their lives. It's a news article with a comments section. People can comment however they want to.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #19 10 months ago

    @Quak

    He didnt say you cant comment what you want, he said it was disgusting to expect to get something back from a charitable donation, and hes right.

    Yes we should get better treatment from Sony Europe, but dont use this as ammunition for gods sake.

  • Quak #20 10 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer

    And where did I say I was expecting anything back for my donation?

    Just because I have the sense and objectivity to differentiate between a disaster, a donation and Sony's poor treatment of Europe (all individual facts in their own right), it doesn't mean any of you need to get hysterical.

    Get a grip for God's sake.

  • kangarootoo #21 10 months ago

    "We stumped up twice as much as the US PSN did? And yet you just know we'll get still get shafted when the Vita comes out."

    "And yet Europe continues to be last on Sony's list of priorities when it comes to releases and pricing."

    "He's arguing Europe will be neglected even though we donated more money, and since we have a larger population that's more reason to not alienate the European user "


    Christ, some people will ALWAYS find a way for it to "be about them". We didn't donate in the hope of getting something back as gamers, we surely donated to.. you know... save human lives. You do remember what the donations were for right? You talk as if people have given the money to Sony, as opposed to the charitable organisations that are helping in in that part of the world.

    Seriously, you bloody childen.

    Edit: read through some more of the thread. So relieved to see I'm not the only one.
    Edited by kangarootoo at 22/07/11 @ 12:15

  • kangarootoo #22 10 months ago

    @Quak

    "Just because I have the sense and objectivity to differentiate between a disaster, a donation and Sony's poor treatment of Europe"

    If you are able to differentiate, why exactly did you mention the 3rd one? If you are so clear as to the lack of a connection between them, why not also mention other random and unconnected things, such as the price of sugar and what thw weather is like in Canada.

    Saying something a bit selfish is one thing. Pretending that it didn't happen, and that everyone else is mad, just makes you look stupid.


    Perhaps you should investigate the meaning of the phrase "and yet", and then realise why, if you are differentiating so effectively as you suggest, it shouldn't have appeared in your post.
    Edited by kangarootoo at 22/07/11 @ 12:20

  • Quak #23 10 months ago

    @kangarootoo

    > If you are so clear as to the lack of a connection between them, why not also mention other random and unconnected things, such as the price of sugar and what thw weather is like in Canada.

    Because I fail to see how PSN (and therefore Sony) is related to the price of sugar or to the weather in Canada whereas how Sony treats Europe (i.e. the largest contributor here) is a discussion that comes up on these forums pretty often.

    If anyone looks stupid here, I'd say it's you for asking such a ridiculous question.

  • Murton #24 10 months ago

    "xbl is the standard on how online services should be." - as far as social functions go I'd agree, but for actual gaming it's really quite poor when you look at it properly. £40 a year to host my own P2P games or play on the same EA servers that I financed through my games purchase while other platforms get that for no additional cost? I don't see the value in that I'm afraid.


    As for the disaster donation, very impressive. I donated via other methods (charity/fund raising purchases mostly) so didn't use the PSN donation in the end, was a great idea though and these figures clearly show that gaming can be a force for good when the right approach is taken. Kudos for both Sony and anyone who donated via PSN, you're good people.

  • kangarootoo #25 10 months ago

    @Quak

    Have you got no short term memory or something? Let me refresh you as to recent events.

    People critisised you apparent "what's in it for me?" attitude.
    You responded by saying you didn't have that attitude, because you were being objective and differentiating between the two things.
    I then suggest, why not talk about other unrelated things.
    And you respond by saying that would be silly, because your wish for better support in Europe IS related to charitable donations.

    Either the two are not related in your mind, or they are. And if they ARE related in your mind, it is perfectly reasonable for people to call you inhumane because you feel your charitable donation IS RELATED to preferential treatment in the future.

    For me, there is NO RELATION WHATSOEVER between any donation I make to a natural disaster, and some future benefit I will personally gain. NONE. That is what charity means you see. Do you see? I'm not so sure.

    You can call my questions silly all the want, it makes no difference to me. I know what my eyes are seeing on this page.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #26 10 months ago

    @quak

    No its you that looks stupid, you clearly related the 2 things.

    Also the money was not donated to Sony, Sony merely set up a conduit to make it easier for PSN users to get there money to the charitable organization involved in helping in the disaster, They dont owe anyone anything for providing this service. None of this money went to rebuilding sonys Factories, they have insurance payouts for that, this money went towards feeding and curing those affected by the disaster.

  • Quak #27 10 months ago

    @kangarootoo

    I haven't read your entire post because I see from the first few sentences that it must be your time of the month.

    What I actually said (if you'll allow me to refresh YOUR memory which clearly only works selectively) is that these three issues are independent in their own right.

    1. Yes there was a disaster.
    2. Yes I and many other PAL users made donations.
    3. Yes Sony almost always shits on Europe.

    Each of those are, just as I said, independent facts. Entire threads could be devoted to each without touching at all on the others. However, only a moron could ignore the obvious links between 2 and 3 - even if they are in themselves independent issues. If you're that guy then you have my sympathies, but I won't be giving you any more of my time because "talking to idiots" doesn't factor on my agenda today.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #28 10 months ago

    Just to make clear I wasn't arguing for his point just stating that someone was misinterpreting what he meant

  • Quak #29 10 months ago

    @GamesProgrammer

    From someone who supposedly writes computer code for a living I'd really expect better logic.

    I don't think anyone (even kangarootoo) is stupid enough to think that Sony pocketed any of the donations so I'm really not sure why you even spent good time typing that.

    I'll refer you to the post I submitted just below yours where I identified three independent facts but also identified a way in which two of them are linked. You could actually say that 1 and 2 are linked as well (who would have donated had there not been a disaster?) and that as a result they are all linked together, but as you're struggling with just my first point I won't add to your woes.

    You can join kangarootoo on my ignore list. Anyone else who is today suffering from PMT or idiot syndrome, please just READ what I - and many others - have said before getting on your high horses.

  • coolbritannia #30 10 months ago

    ha ha, 5 people don't believe in charity. cunts.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #31 10 months ago

    People need to chill! Noone in their right mind would have donated just because they expected something back.

    I think it's unfair and a bit disgusting to suggest that someone who has donated money for a good cause is only doing it for something in return. Not fair at all to make people look like selfish monsters when they're clearly not!

  • kangarootoo #32 10 months ago

    @Quak

    "Each of those are, just as I said, independent facts"

    Then why mention them all? And why say that my suggestion mention other independant things is stupid?


    And I'll let you in on a secret, when you start a post with an insult (especially one where you say you haven't even read the response), it tells the readers (not just me, everyone reading this thread) that you are out of your depth, and you know it.

    As you were.

  • kangarootoo #33 10 months ago

    @Jolly_Armadillo

    If the words people write say they are selfish, I tend to trust them.

  • karooo #34 10 months ago

    Why is it in pounds in the article? This is supposed to be EG right? Lol.

  • funkateer #35 10 months ago

    I can't help but think how much more could have been raised if PSN wasn't down for so long at the time.
    So much for 'white hat' hackers and 'lulz'... But kudo's for people who donated!

  • ChuckNorris #36 10 months ago

    Quak, you have been utterly lawyered by kanga. It's quite funny.

  • TheEarlOfZinger #37 10 months ago

    Objection!

  • kangarootoo #38 10 months ago

    "utterly lawyered"

    I'm not 100% on whether that is a compliment or a lite-insult. I like it either way :)

  • Quak #39 10 months ago

    @Chuck

    If he's still going on trying to suggest that there is no link between the Sony that shits on Europe and the Sony that owns PSN then congratulations to him.

    I, along with every other person on this earth with more than 2 brain cells, know differently and it's beyond ridiculous that any post is being marked down for saying so. It just goes to prove that a number of EG users are actually pretty immature and unable to segregate separate issues within one topic. I guess I'm not really surprised.

  • kangarootoo #40 10 months ago

    "If he's still going on trying to suggest that there is no link between the Sony that shits on Europe and the Sony that owns PSN then congratulations to him"

    Have I lost my short term memory now? I thought we were talking about Japan Erthquake donations. I really did. At what point did I suggest anything related to... but... ... I'm lost for words. Really. I'm not even sure HOW Quak got from where we started to that post above.

    Funny.
    Edited by kangarootoo at 22/07/11 @ 15:00

  • natureboy #41 10 months ago

    So European and PAL territories (which have fewer members than the American) raised the most Yen.hmm

  • Jolly_Armadillo #42 10 months ago

    @djironz

    Who mentioned xbox?

  • hazzatori #43 10 months ago

    @Quak, I wasn't directing my comments solely at you but anyone who feels a need to comment on the fact Sony lays a shit deal to Europeans, i wont say PAL as that covers more than Europe, but the need to mention by some how we will still get a sore deal based on the fact we donated the highest contribution is a disgusting,

    Its like some are expecting a result or a reward for donations, I feel the whole article to be a bit crap really, does it matter which part of the world donated what, as long as someone did? It should just read £1.01Mil donated well done world(FULL STOP) why the need to break down and inflame the Euro is more generous than US debates or Sony still shits on us crap?

  • skankyjoe #44 10 months ago

    That's an amazing sum, proud to say that i donated and i think it was a great idea to set up the opportunity via PSN

  • sfp_noodle #45 10 months ago

    First things first - Well done everyone. Be it Americans, Europeans or Sea Turtles in Australia. Whoever donated should feel good about themselves. My family and I donated £100 outside of PSN and whilst it may not seem like a lot it's a significant amount considering our small income.

    Secondly, and this is generally just aimed at Quak - Why do you even give a toss about how Sony treat their customers? Yes you are stupid for trying to establish a connection between Europeans donating money and expecting favours in return. I don't think even one person donating was thinking about how Sony would suck their dick more than someone elses if they donated more than somebody else. So piss off.
    Edited by sfp_noodle at 22/07/11 @ 18:22

  • man.the.king #46 10 months ago

    @Jolly_Armadillo

    "Who mentioned xbox? "

    coolbritannia (only tangentially though), spacedelete (although tbf, he was responding to Kellos's joke - although only immature fanboys would fail to recognize that joke as one). And if you know spankyspangler (who is an XBox troll), this post of his was intended to make fun of PSN users' donations (I was shaking my head in disbelief at that one).

  • nasanu #47 10 months ago

    "trying to suggest that there is no link between the Sony that shits on Europe and the Sony that owns PSN" - Quak

    Lol. One of the most funny things I've read in a while. I do not think you even know what you are talking about.

  • Murton #48 10 months ago

    "coolbritannia (only tangentially though), spacedelete (although tbf, he was responding to Kellos's joke - although only immature fanboys would fail to recognize that joke as one). And if you know spankyspangler (who is an XBox troll), this post of his was intended to make fun of PSN users' donations (I was shaking my head in disbelief at that one)."

    I'm not a moderator so I can't say for sure, but I believe those last two may all be socks of one account or another. SpankySpangler is definitely CharlieChan judging by his post content and writing style, a symptom of lazy moderation, nothing more and nothing less.

  • scuffpuppies #49 10 months ago

    @Quak: "trying to suggest that there is no link between the Sony that shits on Europe and the Sony that owns PSN"

    Erm, you do realise that they're technically two separate things? 'PlayStation Network Europe LTD' (or 'Sony Network Entertainment Europe LTD' as it's now called) is a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SNEE/PSN-Europe have ZERO control or influence on release dates of both hardware and software, or the deciding price points. They work for, and are owned by Sony. But technically they're not Sony. Atleast in the guise you believe.

  • callum9999 #50 10 months ago

    The people moaning about X place donated X amount are presumably so obsessed with their gaming that they have forgotten there is an outside world... The majority of people who donated to Japan did so not via the PSN, so judging certain places and congratulating yourselves is completely meaningless.

    I didn't contribute through the PSN because personally I thought it was very lazy. Yes, it would have been easier for me, but by donating directly to a couple of charities, it means they get gift aid - meaning my donation goes far further than it would have if I did via the PSN (which unless I've got the wrong end of the stick, had no gift aid facilities?).