During E3 2018, we had the privilege to partner with our friends at Xbox in support of Gamers Outreach programs. Since 2007, our team has been working to provide equipment, technology, and software to help kids cope with treatment inside hospitals. We exist to inspire and heal patients through interactive play.

Xbox and Microsoft’s gaming franchises have been a part of our identity since our founding, and presently, the majority of our GO Karts deployed in hospitals are equipped with Xbox consoles. Given our history with the brand (and as fans), it was incredibly surreal to have the opportunity to work with the Xbox team during one of the video game industry’s biggest events of the year.

Our E3 week kicked off on Sunday with the Xbox press conference. If you caught the broadcast, you may have noticed Phil Spencer was wearing a Gamers Outreach tee! Shortly after walking on stage, Phil announced all proceeds from Xbox FanFest would be donated to Gamers Outreach in support of helping us bring entertainment to hospitalized children. Through those ticket sales, Xbox fans generated $20,000 for Gamers Outreach programs!

In addition to FanFest ticket sales, Aaron Greenberg helped raise another $5,000 through an online campaign in memory of Xbox Addict. Those community donations will be helping us provide a GO Kart and assortment of games to a hospital in Xbox Addict’s hometown. All donors who contributed at least $70 to the campaign during E3 will also be receiving a commemorative Xbox Addict controller.

On Sunday evening, our founder Zach Wigal had the opportunity to talk about Gamers Outreach alongside Major Nelson in a theater of more than 500 Xbox fans. As of this blog post, Gamers Outreach is maintaining a presence in nearly 50 children’s hospitals across the U.S. and Canada. We estimate our initiatives are capable of benefiting more than 400,000 children per year. What’s more: we expect to double our impact thanks to commitments to support over 800,000 children in 200 hospitals this year.

With all that growth, we’re going to need the help of the gaming community to deliver GO Karts and ensure hospitals are capable of maximizing the benefits games provide to patients! We invited our fellow Xbox fans to volunteer at their local hospitals as Gamers Outreach expands throughout 2018. If you filled out a volunteer application, be on the lookout in the coming months for an email from our team members!

On Monday, we organized a little mixer for our fellow gaming peeps visiting Los Angeles. It was wonderful to catch up with so many friends and make a few new ones! Thanks to everyone who joined us at the first ever Gamers Outreach prE3 mixer at PRANK bar in downtown LA! It’s definitely just the beginning of many more west coast events to come ;).

Of course, we had to wrap E3 the best way we know how – by delivering some GO Karts! With support from Xbox FanFest attendees, we delivered our very first Xbox One X GO Karts to Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA! Each GO Kart will provide hospitalized kids with access to entertainment for years into the future. Massive thanks to all the Xbox FanFest attendees for making this possible. This was just the first delivery supported by FanFest ticket sales of more to come!

We’re so grateful to team Xbox and the gaming community for coming together to make a difference for kids and families in hospitals. Everyone’s support has an impact. E3 is an incredible stage to raise awareness for the work being done in hospitals and all there is still to do. On behalf of our fellow gamers going through hospitalization, THANK YOU to Xbox for helping us build support for this cause and sharing your voice during E3 2018!

Until next year!

Pro H1Z1 player “Pineaqples” knows what it’s like to spend time in the hospital.

Through his Twitch channel, he led a fundraising effort with his community to place two GO Karts inside Children’s Hospital of Nevada.

Our friends from Twin Galaxies created this heartwarming video sharing his story, and documenting the delivery of his GO Karts. It’s always wonderful to see the gaming community rally together in support of hospitalized patients and their families.

We’ll let Pineaqples take it from here!

 

Pretty cool story to share, fellow gamers! The team from BANDAI NAMCO America recently led a fundraising effort in support of Gamers Outreach! With support from their community, they were able to raise more than $20,000 to help bring entertainment to hospitalized children!

Official press release below!

BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC. PARTNERS WITH GAMERS OUTREACH TO HELP CHILDREN IN HOSPITALS LEVEL-UP

Over $20,000 Donated to Provide Equipment, Technology, and Software to Help Young Patients Cope and Recover from Illness 

SANTA CLARA, Calif., (May 24, 2018) – Leading anime video game developer and publisher BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. announced today it has raised and is donating over $20,000 to Gamers Outreach in support of the foundation’s mission to provide recreation and entertainment to children recovering from the treatment of long term illnesses in hospitals through the power of video games. The donated funds will go directly to the creation of additional “GO Karts” or Gamers Outreach Karts – portable, medical-grade gaming kiosks which healthcare staff can use to transport gaming consoles and games to children who are not able to leave their rooms during their recovery. GO Karts have already been stationed at nearly 50 hospitals around the United States and support over 450,000 children annually during their recoveries.

“As a video game company, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America is excited to see the power of video games brighten the day of a child recovering from illness. Video games can transport children to distant lands for grand adventures, empower them with super powers, and most importantly, deliver a simple smile and some comfort.” said Denny Chiu, Director, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. “By lifting their spirits, we hope to help these brave young patients through their healing process and provide a semblance of fun and normalcy to their day. We also want to thank our generous fans who donated funds during our livestream, our combined donations will surely add a boost to help Gamers Outreach in its mission of bringing joy, creating smiles, and making the day special for countless kids.”

“We’re incredibly grateful to the team from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America for this generous gift of more than $20,000 in support of providing entertainment devices to hospitalized children,” said Zach Wigal, Founder of Gamers Outreach. “As an organization, our focus is to help normalize the hospital experience by ensuring games and recreation are available to patients, and easy for healthcare professionals to manage. GO Karts are a tool hospital staff rely on as a way to deliver content to patients who have limited accessibility during treatment. The GO Karts built by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America will be making a difference in the lives of children and their families for years to come!

Funds donated by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. are comprised of charitable donations raised during an eight hour “Let’s Play Anime” charity livestream which raised $5,484 from viewers and fans. The livestream featured gameplay segments featuring BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s latest games. The livestream was hosted by BANDAI NAMCO team members and social media influencers. During the program, viewers made donations in support of the livestream to benefit Gamers Outreach. Additional funds were donated by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. by matching the $5,484 donated by livestream viewers and with an additional $10,000 for a grand donation total of $20,968.

For more information on BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., please visit: https://www.bandainamcoent.com. For more information about Gamers Outreach Foundation, please visit: https://gamersoutreach.org.

###

 

 

About BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc., is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment for all major video game consoles, iOS, Android, and online platforms. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises including PAC-MAN®, GALAGA®, TEKKEN®, SOULCALIBUR®, and ACE COMBAT®. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is the premier publisher in the Western hemisphere for anime based video games including NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, DRAGON BALL Z®, and ONE PIECE®. More information about the company and its products can be found at http://www.bandainamcoent.com or www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS

About Gamers Outreach Foundation

Gamers Outreach is a 501(c)(3) charity organization that provides recreation to children in hospitals through the power of video games and the gaming community. Hospitalization can often be a lonely, isolating, and scary experience for young people. Gamers Outreach eases those burdens by providing equipment, technology, and software that help kids cope with long-term treatment. More information can be found at www.GamersOutreach.org

All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Press Release © 2018 BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.

 

Contact:

Nick O’Leary
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.
408-235-2134
noleary@bandainamcoent.com

Wow. What a weekend. What an incredible 10th anniversary. What a wonderful community we are all part of.

With the help of our fellow gamers and a matching contribution from PUBG Corp, Gamers for Giving 2018 has generated an astounding $772,598.59 in support of providing entertainment to hospitalized children!!!

Of that amount, $422,598.59 was raised through a combination of ticket sales, donations, our stream team, and a commitment from Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers.

The remaining $350,000 is being donated by PUBG Corp, who have been insanely amazing partners as the impact of our organization has grown these past couple years.

Our entire crew is so grateful for the benevolence of the gaming community during this past weekend’s event. The funds you’ve helped us raise will make A MASSIVE impact for thousands of patients receiving treatment in hospitals. For perspective, the amount raised during this past weekend is enough to build nearly as many GO Karts as we’ve constructed in the last 10 years. That’s a HUGE win for kids in hospitals!

We’re so proud to do this work, and can’t wait for you to see the difference that will be made thanks to this single event. There are hundreds of hospitals across the United States alone, and we’re determined to support patients in every single one!

To everyone who attended, competed, streamed, donated, or spread the word – from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!! This has been our most successful fundraiser to-date, and it wouldn’t have happened without your help.

Of course, hosting this event would be exceedingly difficult if it weren’t for the support of our sponsors and partners. Companies such as Twitch, DTS, DreamHack, Lightstream, and many others came together to help facilitate our 10th anniversary. We’re thankful for their commitment to our event and cause!

An outpouring of thanks is owed to our streamers – who rallied their communities to help us tackle the weekend’s big goal. Collectively, our on-site stream team’s efforts accounted for almost $220,000 raised during the event! We’re blown away by the power streamers have to impact change, and it’s always a joy to host them as our guests during Gamers for Giving.  Streaming platforms like Twitch have enabled gamers to raise awareness and funding for causes like never before. It’s truly remarkable witnessing the difference gamers can make through online broadcasts! Of course, a special shout out goes to MarkstromTV, who was able to raise more than $40,000 (!!!) for GO Karts with help from his viewers!

Last but certainly not least, we owe gratitude to our army of volunteers – whose efforts never go unnoticed at Gamers for Giving. It’s thanks to their generosity Gamers for Giving is a reality. Our crew spends numerous hours throughout the year gathering resources and equipment to bring our annual fundraising event to fruition. Many sacrifice vacation days and time with friends/family to create our event each year – all in the name of making a difference in the lives of hospitalized kids. To all our volunteers – THANK YOU for making this year’s event the most successful Gamers for Giving so far!!

Photos will be posted in the coming days on the Gamers Outreach Facebook page.

Interested in staying involved with Gamers Outreach programs throughout the year? Be sure to check out our website www.GamersOutreach.org, to keep up with all the latest updates as we work to make video games accessible to hospitalized children! Anyone can start a fundraising campaign at any time throughout the year in support of providing recreation to children in their local hospitals.

From all of us at Gamers Outreach, thank you again to everyone involved!! We’ll see you at the next one!

We have some exciting news to share, fellow gamers, and we could think of no better time to do so than the weekend of our biggest event of the year, Gamers for Giving!

Today we’re proud to announce Aaron Greenberg has joined our board of directors!

As General Manager of Xbox Games Marketing, Aaron leads the games product marketing team across 1^st and 3^rd party titles at Microsoft. His daily work puts him at the forefront of the Xbox ecosystem, where he oversees a network of staff creating experiences for gaming enthusiasts worldwide.

“Aaron is an accomplished veteran of the games industry, and has been a champion for Gamers Outreach programs and the patients we serve in hospitals,” said Zach Wigal, Founder of Gamers Outreach. “Our team is inspired by his enthusiasm, and his professional expertise will be of great value as our initiatives become more widespread in the coming years.”

An advocate of Gamers Outreach programs, Aaron has personally made a significant impact for patients at Seattle Children’s Hospital through “Project GO Kart.” With the help of the Xbox community, Aaron mobilized fundraising efforts which led to the construction of 10 portable video game kiosks for patients undergoing long-term care. It’s estimated each GO Kart unit supports more than 2,900 children annually.

Aaron joins Gamers Outreach in the midst of historically significant growth as we work towards supporting more than 800,000 patients across 200 facilities in 2018.

We’re so proud to have Aaron as part of our leadership team, and look forward to making an incredible difference in the lives of patients for years to come!

The big weekend has finally arrived. Gamers for Giving 2018 begins today! 10th anniversary hype levels are maxed out!

Over the next two days, we’re hoping to raise $350,000 to provide video games and entertainment to hospitalized children. We can’t do it without your support!

Here’s how you can help:

• Donate! Any amount makes a difference. Best part? All contributions up to $350K are being matched by PUBG! You can make a donation here.
• Watch / host the stream! We’ll be broadcasting live on our Twitch channel both Saturday & Sunday from 12 PM – 8 PM eastern time! You can watch our main broadcast or check out our streamers here!
• Stream on your own! Here’s a helpful guide to get you started on fundraising in support of patients at your local hospital.
• Spread the word! Tweet using the official hashtag #GFG2018, or share details of the event with your friends on social media!

Good news is, we’re already 50% past the goal as of this blog post! But it’s going to take the help of our fellow gamers to make it the rest of the way.

Please consider getting involved by helping us fulfill our $350K quest.

We’ll see you throughout the weekend!

– Team Gamers Outreach

It’s nearly time!! Our 10th annual Gamers for Giving fundraiser starts tomorrow!! Details around the event and how to contribute towards our $350K fundraising goal can be found on the event’s website, www.GamersforGiving.org.

For those of you attending on-site, doors for the venue will open at 9 AM (for VIPs) and 10 AM for general attendees / spectators. You can find a full itinerary of the day on the Schedule page of the Gamers for Giving website.

Not attending in person but still want to support the cause? Consider making a donation, or running a stream of your own!

We look forward to seeing you during the event!!

*Photo by Tim Seppala of Engadget

10 years in the making.

At long last, the big weekend is finally in sight! Gamers for Giving 2018 will be taking place THIS WEEKEND at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center!

On April 28^th and 29^th, hundreds of video game enthusiasts from across the country will be joining us to participate in one of North America’s largest LAN parties.

In addition to the gaming festivities, we’ll be chasing down a $350,000 fundraising goal in support of providing entertainment devices to hospitalized children. What’s more: this year’s goal is being matched by our friends at PUBG Corp. which means we could potentially raise as much as $700,000!

Here’s a quick highlight of some of our recent news updates:

• As of this blog post, passes to compete in our Halo, Call of Duty, and Smash Bros. Melee tournament still remain! Get yours here.
• Our NZXT x PUBG PC giveaway will end on April 30th! You can enter for a chance to win here.
• From across the world, we’ll be joined by a number of incredible streamers at this year’s Gamers for Giving! Check out the full lineup and say hello!
• We’ve made a ton of progress in the hospital environment since last year’s event, but there’s still more work to be done. Learn about our cause.
• Unable to attend, but still want to support this year’s fundraiser? Check out this helpful guide for how you can donate, stream, or spread the word!

Whether you’re streaming from home, or joining us at the EMU Convocation Center, we look forward to having you be a part of this year’s efforts! We’ll see you on April 28th & 29th!

 

This article was originally posted prior to our 10th annual Gamers for Giving fundraiser. While the event has since passed, the needs of hospital patients and ways to get involved with our cause are still relevant! See below…

It’s been 10 years since we hosted the first Gamers for Giving.

Wow – where does the time go!?

Since the founding of our event in 2008, Gamers Outreach has grown into a community of video game enthusiasts eager to make a difference for hospitalized children and their families. Hospitalization can often be a lonely, isolating, and scary experience – especially for young people. We’ve seen it firsthand, and we’re doing everything we can to ease those burdens. Our intent is to inspire and heal patients through interactive play.

Thanks to the generosity of our fellow gamers, we’ve had the opportunity to work with hospitals nationwide. We’ve noticed healthcare professionals face two primary challenges:

• Many hospitals are not equipped with entertainment devices that make gaming content readily accessible to patients (e.g. consoles, controllers, monitors, games, etc.)
• When technology is present, it can be difficult for hospital staff to manage entertainment due to a number of factors (unfamiliarity with equipment, existing responsibilities, ease of mobility, etc.)

Gamers for Giving generates funding in support of two initiatives we believe help produce joy and minimize trauma for patients, while solving the above challenges:

Project GO Kart: Gamers Outreach constructs portable, medical-grade video game kiosks called “GO Karts” (Gamers Outreach Karts). These kiosks enable nurses to easily provide bedside activities to children unable to leave their rooms in hospitals. Each GO Kart is equipped with a gaming console, monitor, and assortment of games. The carts provide a safe, flexible, and efficient way to ensure kids have access to entertainment and coping mechanisms during long-term hospitalization. Each unit also has an internal lift mechanism, which allows healthcare staff to adjust the GO Kart to a patient’s bedside, accommodating a variety of medical scenarios which may limit a patient’s mobility.

Player 2: Player 2 is a program where gamers have the opportunity to apply the knowledge they’ve acquired through gaming in a manner that supports patients and staff within hospitals. By volunteering, gamers become “digital activity managers” and serve by managing equipment, providing tech support, and playing games with patients. Many hospitals receive game donations, but without proper staffing to manage inventory at a mass scale, it can become difficult for tech donations to properly serve patients as intended. Player 2 helps address this issue by ensuring knowledgeable individuals are present to distribute technology and exercise its positive benefits.

So how much progress have we made?

At this time last year, Gamers Outreach programs maintained a footprint in 19 hospitals nationwide. We estimated as many as 105,000 patients were benefiting annually from initiatives like Project GO Kart and Player 2.

As of this blog post, we’ve more than doubled our list of supported hospitals, and quadrupled our capacity to support patients.

Gamers Outreach initiatives exist in 42 facilities across the United States. Collectively, our presence of deployed GO Karts (157 units) has the ability to support as many as 452,600 patients per year.

What’s more: we’re still in the process of expanding. In 2018 (thanks to support from Child’s Play) Gamers Outreach programs will exist in nearly 200 facilities across the U.S. and Canada!

As you can see, the next several months will be quite busy for our team, and much of our growth can be attributed to Gamers for Giving. But even with the dramatic expansion of supported patients, we’re barely reaching the incredible volume of children hospitalized annually. Each year, millions of kids are treated across hundreds of hospitals around the U.S. alone. We want to help them all!

Gamers for Giving 2018 is going to help us make steps to do just that. With your support, we can help ensure all children going through hospitalization have access to modern forms of recreation. It’s going to take the collective effort of the gaming community to make a difference in every single hospital nationwide. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Fundraise: We recently built our own fundraising platform which allows gamers to stream in support of Gamers Outreach programs! You can start a general fundraiser, or even rally your community to construct GO Karts for a hospital of your preference. Not a streamer? No sweat! You can still use the platform to reach out to friends, family, or colleagues in support of the big weekend’s goal! Create your first fundraising campaign here. Need artwork for your stream? Download our logo and Twitch banners here.
• Donate: Any amount helps! Donations can be made on the front page of the Gamers for Giving website, or by visiting www.GamersOutreach.org/donate.
• Watch: Gamers Outreach will be streamed live all weekend on our Twitch channel, and with help from a variety of streamers in the gaming community. Be sure to check out our Stream page for all the details!
• Spread the Word: Unable to make a donation, but still want to be involved? Help spread Gamers for Giving hype on social media! You can use the hashtag #GFG2018 to help promote this year’s event and encourage friends to get involved.

Whether you’re streaming from home, or joining us at the EMU Convocation Center, we look forward to having you be a part of this year’s efforts! And remember, all contributions are being matched by our friends at PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds up to $350K! There’s never been a better time to help make an impact.

We’ll see you on April 28th & 29th! Let’s help others level up!

Information and registration for this year’s Gamers for Giving can be found on the event website, located here.

It’s not every day you have the chance to meet a six-foot-eight international gaming superstar (and two-time Blockbuster champion) with a 37 inch vertical leap. But then again, there’s only one individual in the Twitch universe who carries such esteemed credentials – and it’s none other than Dr. DisRespect.

Last summer, broadcasters from across the gaming community took part in a charity invitational hosted by the developers behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). The event, which brought together 128 Twitch streamers from Europe and North America, was a celebration of PUBG’s incredible success and the gamers who’ve supported its development.

One of those streamers was Dr. DisRespect, (Guy Beahm) whose community of viewers helped construct two GO Karts for Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego.

GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts) are portable video game kiosks built specifically for medical environments. Healthcare professionals are able to use GO Karts as a way to provide bedside activities to children unable to leave their rooms in hospitals. Each GO Kart is equipped with a gaming console, monitor, and assortment of games. The carts provide a safe, flexible, and efficient way to ensure kids have access to entertainment and coping mechanisms during treatment.

We estimate an average of 8 patients benefit from a single GO Kart per day. Collectively, the two units donated by Guy and his viewers could support as many as 5,840 children annually.

As fans ourselves, it was wonderful to welcome Guy and his family into the hospital environment. During our visit, we had the chance to share how these units will make a difference for patients, and hear from staff on how gaming plays a role in healthcare.

We’d like to express our immense gratitude to the #ChampionsClub, who made the delivery of these units possible through contributions during last year’s invitational. And of course, it’s hard to find words that do justice to the the generosity of PUBG Corp, who have continued to be incredible advocates for our programs and children facing hospitalization.

Firm handshakes, everyone.