Developers announce Haiti relief plans

By Tom Bramwell Published 18 January, 2010

Bungie and others ask for help.

Halo developer Bungie has announced plans to raise money for the relief effort in Haiti following last week's catastrophic earthquake.

The studio has said that it will divert 100 per cent of profits on merchandise sold through its online store to the American Red Cross.

Gamers have also been invited to play Halo 3 or Halo 3: ODST online this Wednesday and Thursday while wearing a special emblem to signify their support. For every 1000 gamers who do, Bungie will donate $100, up to a maximum of $77,000.

The studio has also encouraged gamers to simply donate, even if they don't fancy taking part in the Bungie-related activities, referring them to charitynavigator.org for advice.

On Saturday, fellow US developer PopCap donated all proceeds from game sales to Partners in Health, while Zynga has reportedly raised over $1.2 million through campaigns across its social games FarmVille, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

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

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Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mcmonkeyplc #1 2 years ago

    I'm going to be buying bungies special tee shirt and playing on Wednesday.

    This is also good for the industry, helps get it out of the perception that it's a kids industry.

  • Lunatic4ever #2 2 years ago

    I think this is prove enough...the gaming industry is a integral part of our society and events of this kind make it even more clear.
    great job guys.

  • Monkey_Chops #3 2 years ago

    "Gamers have also been invited to play Halo 3 or Halo 3: ODST online this Wednesday and Thursday while wearing a special emblem to signify their support."

    Interesting way to get to the top of the Xbox Live charts. Kidding. I'll be playing this week, for sure.

  • Yossarian #4 2 years ago

    They were top of the charts for the year 2009 with a game released in 2007. I don't think there should be any caveats or quips about what they're doing here.

  • octavedoctor #5 2 years ago

    It's a shame that some of the big publishers with their mega bucks aren't following suit... Activision, EA etc

  • matrim83 #6 2 years ago

    Good stuff from all the involved developers.

    I feel proud to be Bungie fan.

  • CrispyLog #7 2 years ago

    Bungie are giving $77,000 and that terrible facebook game farmville has already raised over $1million? Well that's a sad show on where the money is in videogames now.

  • AphoticCosmos #8 2 years ago

    If my Live worked here at uni, I would certainly play ODST online, but alas I can't :(

    It's heart-warming to see a major dev come out and do something warm and fuzzy, though. This is why I love Bungie :)

  • BritishRedCross #9 2 years ago

    A very generous offer from Bungie, and I'm sure their contribution will be greatly appreciated. British Red Cross volunteers are currently assisting the injured survivors of the Haiti earthquake and supporting hospitals struggling to cope with this emergency. If you’d like to find out more about the disaster, Red Cross operations in this region, or support the Red Cross’ contribution to the DEC (Disasters and Emergency Committee) appeal, please watch this video

  • The-Bodybuilder #10 2 years ago

    >"the gaming industry is a integral part of our society"

    Woah woah, let's not get too hasty with massive, sweeping grand statements here.

    But this really is a massive move by Bungie. And I'm sure its born out of a need to help and not as a publicity stunt (like some sickos will probably think)
    Edited by 1 at 18/01/10 @ 18:57

  • the_mtfr #11 2 years ago

    I hope this is one of them sick jokes right?! Otherwise Bungie's move is the lowest move I can remember. What, with having a multi-multi-million selling franchise, they're now promising to give to charity a maximum of 77 thousand? And not even just *give* the money, but in exchange they want an absolutely massive marketing campaign! You Bungie defenders, are you blind or something?

    Well, I think Bungie's words are as clear as can get with no room for misinterpreting, so fuck them (with all due respect for them actually giving something that is more than nothing).

  • MiniAmin #12 2 years ago

    It's more of a grand sweeping statement to suggest that gaming isn't an integral part of our society: PSwii60 sell in the millions.

    Gaming has surpassed films in terms of revenue (that may be wrong, i'm not sure). The release of a big game these nowadays is a massive media event. How many millions play farmville, iphone/touch apps, nearly everyone plays games on their mobile phones on the way to work. Of course gaming is an integral part of our society.

    Oh and well done to anyone who donates.

  • Murton #13 2 years ago

    mtfr has a point, Bungie isn't exactly a small company, if it wanted to donate to the relief effort it could do so without turning it into a marketing opportunity.

    The big shame is that these donations are mere pittance compared to what could be donated if other larger organisations got involved. Imagine if the Premier League unanimously decided to donate this weeks wages to the relief fund, it would be a staggering amount of money.

  • Fab4 #14 2 years ago

    Quite a few PL players donate to charity without the need for publicity, and I'm sure they'll do so for Haiti as well.

  • Lamb #15 2 years ago

    Is Rockstar going to be donating too? You know after all the Haitian quips in Grand Theft Auto Vice City. :D

    Oh and Wyclef Jean, why?

    http://ab cnews.go.com/Technology/wiresto...

    Is it smart to rebuild Haiti right on top of a fault line?

  • SbEguy #16 2 years ago

    @#11

    I guess you missed the second paragraph stating that Bungie is also giving 100% of the profits from their online store for an unspecified amount of time (although chances are it's for one day)

  • the_mtfr #17 2 years ago

    @SbEguy

    By giving the profits, they don't lose anything. They don't really *give* from their pocket because they get to keep the money that covers production costs. On the other hand, people will wear their t-shirts so there's a huge marketing campaign made with no money.

    There must be good guys too in Bungie but this was thought up by a very cynical and soul-less guy dressed in a suit over there.

  • Yossarian #18 2 years ago

    While we didn’t quite reach the lofty goal we set for ourselves, we’re still gonna kick in the maximum amount and as of right now, between our “Be a Hero” Halo matchmaking and Bungie Store campaigns, together we’ve generated, drumroll…

    …over $100,000.

    If you participated, stop for a second and think about that number. You guys and girls got heart. Thanks so much for playing. If you’ve yet to pick up your Be a Hero t-shirt, we’re still committed to donating all of our share of the Bungie Store profit to Haiti relief for a spell. You still have time to help out.

    If tee shirts aren’t your thing, you can always donate directly through one of many online charities of your choosing.


    Yep, there it is, $100,000 soulless dollars! I bet the Haitians send it back, they're so disgusted at what Bungie is doing.
    Edited by 1 at 23/01/10 @ 10:13