On this week’s Massively OP Podcast, Justin and I answered an email from an Australian reader (hi Jack!) and mused on how odd it was that more gaming studios, particularly those based in Australia and New Zealand, weren’t embarking on charity campaigns for the region, which is currently battling unprecedented, wide-ranging bushfires that have killed several dozen people over the course of the summer as primarily unpaid volunteers fight the blaze.
Well, help is coming – from an MMO in faraway Iceland. Yep, CCP Games announced today that it’s bringing back its PLEX for GOOD campaign specifically to raise funds through EVE Online.
“CCP will soon be conducting a new PLEX for GOOD campaign to raise funds for those affected by the severe bushfires that are currently raging in Australia,” the MMO studio tweeted this afternoon. “Thanks to the caring EVE community who have called for it! More details will be following next week.”
Indeed, there’s a big thread on Reddit calling for exactly this move.
The studio has run PLEX for GOOD campaigns for something like the last 15 years to help the victims of multiple tragedies including earthquakes in Nepal and Haiti, floods in Pakistan, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, tornados in the US, and the tsunami that ravaged Japan in 2011. It essentially allows players to turn their in-game currency into PLEX and then PLEX into donations to the cause.
The BBC has a list of other celebrities with charities and initiatives if you want to help the Aussies a bit faster than that.
CCP will soon be conducting a new PLEX for GOOD campaign to raise funds for those affected by the severe bushfires that are currently raging in Australia. Thanks to the caring EVE community who have called for it! More details will be following next week. #tweetfleet #bushfires pic.twitter.com/93pgspbHDf
— EVE Online (@EveOnline) January 8, 2020
