A Game of Hope and Responsibility

By Donna Amo

When we entered 2021, we were hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic would soon come to an end. However, even with vaccines being available, for millions of Indians, the pandemic was far from over. The second wave of COVID-19 is nothing short of a nightmare for the citizens of the country.

Gaming to the rescue

Despite the bleak nature of the situation, the highlight was the humanity and kindness of people during these times. NGOs such as the Hemkunt Foundation, Give India, Breathe India, and many more have taken the initiative to help during this time of need. Joining them in their fight against the COVID-19 was the gaming industry in India. Putting their best foot forward and assisting the situation, many gaming companies like OpraahFx, Krafton, Trinity Gaming, MPL Esports, Stick Pool Club and more have done their part in providing aid or hosting charity events.

In a time when in-person gathering poses a danger to the health and safety of people, holding a regular charity event is not the best idea. Online being the only way to safely communicate and interact, many NGOs resorted to holding charity functions online. The gaming industry was a big contributor, not just through monetary help but also taking advantage of the growing gaming community to hold engaging charity functions.

“We remain committed to supporting the efforts of the government in battling this unprecedented crisis. We hope our contribution to the PM CARES Fund will help the aid efforts currently operational on the ground,” said Changhan Kim, CEO of Krafton Inc. The South-Korean company donated around `1.5 crore.

Positivity is what we need

Since the pandemic struck, the gaming industry has seen tremendous growth globally with an estimated value of $162.32 billion in 2020. Out of this, the Indian

Changhan Kim

gaming industry was responsible for around 55% of that valuation. This has now paved the way for gaming content creators and influencers to establish themselves in this field - the ability to engage with audience gave the gaming companies a perfect opportunity to host charity live streams.

Gaming talent management firms OpraahFx and Villager Esports extended their support by collaborating with top gaming influencers for a #MaskonIndia online charity stream. Hosted by Slayy Point and Mythpat, the YouTube live stream was joined by over 35 plus content creators like Techno Gamerz, Viraj Ghelani, Technical Guruji, Salonayy, Total Gaming, Ashish Chanchlani, Carry Minati, Abish Mathew, Ankush Bahuguna, BeYouNick, Tanmay Bhatt, Ranveer Allahbadia, Dolly Singh, etc.

Pranav Panpalia, Founder of OpraahFx stated, “We have all been observing a healthcare emergency with the very large demand of necessary and medical resources in the country since the last few weeks. We believe that this is the time when influencers need to join hands and create a larger social impact collectively.”

“We received an overwhelming response - 10M+ total views and concurrent viewership of 200k for the charity live stream. It was a great moment of pride when we hit the 50,00000 marks and truly unleashed the power of influence,” said Panpalia when he talked about the reach of the event. During the live stream, the influencers engaged with the audience by playing online games, encouraging them to donate, and created awareness about the pandemic. In the end, the event was able to raise more than 50,00000 in funds which were then handed over to Hemkunt Foundation.

Trinity Gaming hosted a live stream event in collaboration with the Hemkunt Foundation and raised over 2,00000 in funds. When asked about the event and what more the gaming community can do to help, Shivam Rao, Co-founder of Trinity Gaming replied, “Charity live streaming is the best step taken by the gaming industry so far. It promotes helping people without actually being in contact with them and encourages lakhs of audiences to help the pandemic stricken citizens.”

Looking out for their own

Besides donating to charity foundations, gaming companies also focused on the health and well-being of their own employees. Recognising the need to cater to the well-being of their own employees, many gaming companies took various measures to take care of their own employees.

“We believe in the well-being of our employees, community, and clients. For us, it is our employee’s health before our targets and deadlines. We tried to minimise the stress level at work by dissolving targets and extending deadlines. We also came up with an ‘anytime leave’ policy to encourage employees to take care of their mental and physical health by taking leaves as and when required,” said Panpalia.

The fight rages on

The gaming community is determined to continue contributing positively to end the crisis and will be using their platform to bring awareness and encourage people to get involved in a humanitarian cause. By channeling the power of social media and technology, the gaming industry’s collaboration with numerous NGOs have managed to shine hope amidst these dark times.

Shivam Rao