Overwatch Pink Mercy Raised $12.7m For Breast Cancer Charity

Overwatch Pink Mercy Event Raised $12.7m For Breast Cancer Charity

Overwatch is definitely one of the most popular games around at the moment. Offering a varied roster of characters and regular updates it is no surprise that despite it being 2 years old now, it is still just as popular as it ever was.

If you regularly play the game, you should recall that last May Blizzard launched a charity event. In it, they offered players the chance to purchase a unique Pink Mercy skin with all proceeds going towards Breast Cancer Research. Well, following the conclusion of the event and tallying of the figures, Blizzard has announced that the event was a huge success raising $12.7m for breast cancer research.

Using Gaming For Good Causes!

This is definitely a major positive news story for gaming. Rest assured that outside of the gaming industry, the mainstream media, who are so quick to vilify gaming, will make no mention of this. They have never, to my knowledge at least, ever reported on an AGDQ or SGDQ event either. I’m open to being corrected on that point though.

The figure raised is known to include the promotion T-shirt sales that came with the event. It does not, however, as yet at least, include money raised during specific live streams during the event. As such, when all the numbers are added, a grand total of around $13m is likely to be the end result.

Kudos To Blizzard – More Please!

Breast cancer is clearly a terrible illness. As such I praise Blizzard for using a gaming skin to such a positive effect. Not only did it raise awareness, but it also raised a massive sum of money. My only hope, moving forward, is that Blizzard repeats this again. Perhaps next time they may look to focus on a male cancer charity such as Testicular or Prostate. It is a bit comical to imagine the skin that will go with that promotion, but it is a no less valid cause to raise money for and I sincerely hope that they do consider it.

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!