UK games companies take fundraising to the next level

Sometime around the 18th July, a number of the world’s people will be gazing up at the heavens hoping they see something that means they can eat during the day again.

If they manage to glimpse the crescent of the New Moon, it will mean that the Arabic observance of Ramadan will be over and they can break their daily fast of the past month. Then the feasting of Muslims will begin and the celebratory festival of Eid will begin.

It will also signal the end of chat-based games company Palringo’s charity campaign during Ramadan, one of many fundraising and innovative efforts that epitomise the apparent altruism and benevolence of the UK games industry.

Palringo focused on the Middle East as part of creating a regional strategy three years ago. Since then have established a significant presence in the region, through offering localised content and understanding the culture and behaviours of users. A significant part of that was understanding the holy month of Ramadan and the impact of that on their users.

Most non-Muslims are aware of the tradition of fasting but are less aware of the focus on supporting charitable causes during Ramadan, no matter what the faith or background of those they are supporting. Being charitable and giving alms is central to Islam and this is a key feature of Ramadan when Muslims donate a certain percentage of what they earn to charity.

Palringo’s campaign began on June 15 and centres on fishing, apparently a popular game on the company’s chat platform. Every week a new fish is released as part of its Fishing Bot game and every one that is caught means players have a better chance of landing more valuable catches.

More pertinently, 50 per cent of Fishing Bot’s profits in that time will be donated to the two charities of Action Against Hunger and Islamic Relief, particularly to needy people in Nepal and India. These donations are not small bait, over the past two years similar campaigns have raised more than £280,000 and the company expects to raise even more this year.

“We value the communication between our users. We’ve seen relationships formed, people helping others in tough situations and it’s all driven by a strong community spirit. Gifting is also a large part of our in app economy, so we figured it made sense to encourage that spirit while contributing to a greater cause.

“We find that people want to contribute to charity when we offer them the chance to do it. It’s not necessarily about redistributing money, but rather harnessing people’s inner wish to do good deeds, and making it easy for them to do so. If we can be of any help in that process we are happy to make it happen,” said Magnus Alm, Head of External Games, Palringo.

Palringo is far from alone in matching games with fundraising, the whole industry seems to be raising money in some manner. Early this year the GameBlast15 event raised more than £120,000 over one weekend to help severely disabled gamers to enjoy games in the same way as able-bodied people.

GamesAid is another example of charity in the games industry. GamesAid acts as a ‘Children in Need’ type fund that supports charitable causes from money raised through games companies. Then there are those affiliated with The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE). One such company is the gamers’ charity SpecialEffect that holds numerous charity events in UKIE’s offices.

SpecialEffect is busy in other areas as well and describes itself as the only UK videogames charity dedicated to games and disability. Initiatives include working with a games developer to create eye-controlled games, allowing games to donate their ‘in-game wealth’ and working with Sports Interactive to let their logo being used on advertising hoarding in its Football Manager game.

The charity also worked with Nomad Games on its million-selling Talisman PC and mobile game by running a competition to create a new character in the game. The winning artists gamers that were supported by SpecialEffect made the Shaman character that is available to download for £1.49, with revenues going to SpecialEffect.

“We can’t thank everyone at Nomad enough for this brilliantly original way of supporting our work, and for their team to involve some of the people we help in the design process was a magnificent gesture,” said SpecialEffect’s fundraiser Nick Streeter.

The list could go on into a second article about how the UK gaming industry is supporting its customers by offering them a chance to help others out. By taking fundraising to the next level, these companies and charities are telling a story that suggests a mature, evolved and responsible ecosystem that belies the many negative stories that are written about it.