Play Modern Warfare 2 for charity

By Ellie Gibson Published 26 November, 2009

Activision and IW to donate £250k.

Activision and Infinity Ward are launching a new initiative to raise money for charity War Child.

Titled Game for Good, it's being organised with the help of GAME and Xbox Live. All you have to do to take part is play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 online during the weekend of 5th - 6th December. During those days Xbox Live Gold membership will be free in a bid to encourage more people to join in.

If more than 600,000 UK users log on War Child will get a donation of £150,000. A further £25,000 will be donated for every 100,000 users after that, up to a maximum of £250,000.

GAME will show support by selling War Child wristbands in stores. To get more information, or to get a "Twibbon" to show your support, check out the Game for Good Facebook page.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 1 year ago

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

  • Stomp224 #1 2 years ago

    That is per employee, right?

  • Mkwone #2 2 years ago

    Is that not like saying kill Dogs for RSPCA? or Beat kids for Childline?

  • local_celebrity #3 2 years ago

    They said irony died when Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, but they hadn't figured on Activision. Orphaning thousands of children...for an Orphans Charity? This is not so much killing irony as dropping a tactical nuke on it.

  • Miles_SI #4 2 years ago

    If you have a look at the WarChild section of the Facebook page (http://ww w.facebook.com/GameforGood#/Gam... they explain why they are involved with this, and more about their work.

  • sneetch #5 2 years ago

    Actually, they don't really explain why they are involved with this.

    War Child's work is fantastic, I admire and respect them for it (and Activision get +10 rep with the sneetch faction for it) but it is as ironic as Mkwone said.

    Not saying they shouldn't do it, not criticising them for it, just saying that it's ironic.

  • linksdad #6 2 years ago

    Or kill virtual dogs for RSCPA and virtual Children for Childline, or dropping a toy tactical nuke.

    Good on em if they get the full amount, 1/4 million quid is a tidy sum.

    After dying a few times repeatedly, especially in the earlier COD's I couldnt imagine anyone ever wanting to go into the horror that is war.

  • callum9999 #7 2 years ago

    A bit manipulative (it reads as a PR stunt, not a chatitable donation because they care) but at the end of the day, a charity is benefiting so you can't complain.

  • Miles_SI #8 2 years ago

    There always seems to be some negativity to these kinds of arrangements when games is involved though. When we announced our deal with WarChild a few years ago (they get a donation for every copy of Football Manager that is sold, and have done since we signed with SEGA), one of the charity trade magazines printed a rant about how SEGA have made games with guns in them before, so WarChild shouldn't be taking the money.

    In my mind, games with guns are very different to real life situations. They are games. Just like books about war are books, and films about war are films.

    Acitivision/Infinity Ward have not, as far as I know, made any children orphans as local_celebrity wrote. They publish/make a game about war, which is a real life situation which I'm sure the majority of us wish didn't happen, but does.

    In my dealings with WarChild, they do not talk about the rights and wrongs of war. What they do is work tirelessly to try and reach their end goal that no child should be affected by war. With the tagline of "War should be 18 rated" for this campaign, I believe that Activision are pointing out that MW2 is not meant to be played by children, and WarChild are re-enforcing their beliefs that no child should be affected by war.

    From a purely personal perspective, and as someone who knows the work first hand that WarChild are currently doing, they need as much money as they can get to support their projects, and open new ones. Hence I'm asking everyone who has the game and is in the UK to support this cause, and log in on that weekend so that WarChild can maximise the money raised.

  • sneetch #9 2 years ago

    "Subject to reaching 600,000 UK located players during the course of the weekend specified above, Activision Blizzard UK Ltd will make a £150,000 donation payout to the War Child charity. The amount of Activision Blizzard UK Ltd’s donation payout to the War Child charity will be increased by £25,000 per each additional 100,000 players reached during the course of the same weekend, subject to a maximum aggregate donation payout to the War Child charity of £ 250,000."

    Also, anyone know how many 360 copies they sell in the UK again? Or how many people tend to play online? 600,000 unique players on Xbox Live might turn out to be quite a tall order.

  • extraXplicit #10 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 17:28:24 13-12-2011

  • local_celebrity #11 2 years ago

    @Miles_SI

    Don't get me wrong, I love Modern Warfare 2. I've already poured 24 hours into the multiplayer. But I find it crass in the extreme that a game that basically revels in gun violence, where you get to kill people in photorealistic detail endlessly for nothing more than pure recreation, should suddenly latch itself onto a cause like this.

    They've made an absolute mint from this game, which cleverly taps into our primal desire to hunt and kill. Now they're trying to morally cleanse themselves by chucking a few quid WarChild's way.

    @callum9999
    "a charity is benefiting so you can't complain."

    Ah, that old chestnut. Tell me Callum, if Gary Glitter did a sponsored fun run for Maddie McCann, would you not find it a wee bit tasteless?

  • gjgjg #12 2 years ago

    jeez, they had their lawers write that stipulation. what if 599,999 log on? no dice?
    max 250k? what percentage of the net profit is that ?

    either way, its for charity... so kudos

  • sneetch #13 2 years ago

    Glad to hear it extraXplicit, it's a measure of how much mistrust I have for Activision that even here I assume they're trying to "pull a fast one". More of a reflection on me than on them.

  • liamthemaster #14 2 years ago

    does that mean live are giving away two free weekends in a row ?

  • kangarootoo #15 2 years ago

    "Ah, that old chestnut. Tell me Callum, if Gary Glitter did a sponsored fun run for Maddie McCann, would you not find it a wee bit tasteless?"

    Perhaps it would be tasteless, but does that mean you should ban him from doing it?

    Outrage of that sort is a luxury enjoyed by people living comfortable lives. A kid in a country under civil war probably doesn't give a shit where the money comes from that brings him/her family clean water to drink.

  • BabyJesus #16 2 years ago

    @Sparkplug, I dislike Mr Koticks current Activison practices of business as much as anyone but anything, is better than nothing, atleast they are giving some money. Also I believe they donated part of their profits to a war veterans organisation in the US.

    I can fault them for many of their practices, but they seem to be quite good when it comes to charity work.

  • local_celebrity #17 2 years ago

    "Perhaps it would be tasteless, but does that mean you should ban him from doing it?"

    Wasn't suggesting anything of the sort. Sorry to disappoint.

  • Climhazzard #18 2 years ago

    More game developers should do this kind of thing, give people something good to say about the industry with all the grief it normally gets.

  • local_celebrity #19 2 years ago

    I've just been reading the promo copy for this event. You couldn't make it up. Remember, this is for War Child - the charity for children affected by war.

    "So get your friends involved, strap on the frags, pull on the Kevlar and lock & load the M4 to do your bit for a very worthy cause."

    Brass Eye, anyone?

  • icematt12 #20 2 years ago

    So, us PS3 users get to enjoy the game but not being charitable? :(

  • Miles_SI #21 2 years ago

    Climhazzard - many do, but you're correct that it's not enough. Check out http://www.gamesaid.org< /a> to see one of the things publishers/developers in the UK are involved with. Then there's Penny Arcades tireless work in the US with http://www.childspl aycharity.org/ which is supported by a lot of devs and publishers, and Martin De Ronde's One Big Game iniative (http://www.onebiggame.org/ ) which raises money for Save the Children and the Starlight Foundation.

    Some studios are involved with specific causes too (we're involved with 2 directly, and me another 4), but don't go on about it that much. It's difficult to promote that side of things without coming across as pompous, as my opening line in this paragraph will likely be seen by some!

  • dacicus #22 2 years ago

    Maybe I'll sound cynical, but for me it looks like Activision pulls a publicity stunt. If there was an announcement that they will donate a larger amount (let's say a 3 million pounds), well, then I'd go and buy the damn game.
    Really, guys! Activision makes billions per year and they donate only 250k pounds? At least our hated Bill Gates donates from his personal fortune millions per year to charity and various foundations.

    Miles_SI, I never knew that every copy of FM you sell would have a small amount of money going to charity. From what i recall, SI doesn't make huge profits, but the fact that you still donate some of your profit to the charity speaks volumes.

  • jamiewalton #23 1 year ago

    It is a very good thing that charity like this happens, a lot of people are in need of charity. I hope they will repeat the same good act this coming Christmas, but with the huge number of xbox and GAME fans, I'm pretty sure it will be another successful charity. Speaking of charity, in the company where we are working at, we currently have this holiday greeting cards project where everybody is encouraged to participate in the making of Christmas cards to be sold in local shops and market. The revenue that will be collected will then be donated to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Ah..I can already feel the spirit of Christmas early this October.