Epic and Fortnite have become the biggest corporate donors for Ukraine

Fortnite is doing some good for Ukraine.

Sometimes, help comes from unlikely places, like Fortnite and Epic. By now everyone in the world is well aware of the unjust Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s been one of the more upsetting and terrifying things to happen in the last few years, and we’re just getting done dealing with COVID-19 and all of its variants. Unfortunately, there’s no vaccination for Russia’s invasion.

No, instead the only thing that’s going to get the people of Ukraine out of this mess is support. Support of all types. From diplomatic to reenforcements, to tools, and yes, even money.

So, it was a bit surprising Fortnite stepped up as they did, pledging to donate all the money they made via in-game purchases through April 3 to the cause in Ukraine. As of March 28, Fortnite has made and donated $70 million in USD to contribute to the humanitarian relief funds.

According to PC Gamer, this is the largest single corporate backing the country of Ukraine has gotten since the unjustified invasion started.

"Putting this sum in context is difficult but, if you look at the list of foreign aid being given to Ukraine over this period, the amount that Fortnite is contributing is more than some small countries. In terms of other companies, this looks like the single biggest contribution made by far (Meta Platforms ie Facebook donated $15 million; Amazon $10 million; Samsung around $6 million), although of course not all donations can or have been quantified financially—SpaceX’s involvement in offering its Starlink system, for example."

Fortnite’s contributions make sense considering they started their own war campaign

Fortnite was right to do donations to the Ukraine war effort, mostly due to the fact that their latest season for Chapter 3 features an all-out ar between The Seven and The Imagined Order, complete with shellings, tanks, and destroyed landmarks.

It would seem crass and uncaring had they done nothing for Ukraine, who’s fighting a real war, during the same time as they profited off a fictional war. No one blames them for the update, after all, the update had been worked on months in advance and the timing of it was just unlucky.

Yet, had they done nothing, it would’ve been really bad optics.

No one should expect Fortnite and Epic Games to keep going with 100% of their earnings to Ukraine, but it’d be nice if they kept donating 10%-25% of their earnings to Ukraine past April 4. Though they shouldn’t be the only ones helping out.

Here’s hoping the conflict is resolved soon.