Fundraiser held inside game to battle coronavirus outbreak

Gamers raised funds in an MMORPG while Tencent, NetEase and other companies have donated more than US$74 million

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Gaming companies are voicing support on social media in the fight to contain the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. (Picture: HyperGryph/Seasun Games/Lilith Games)

Published: 6:02pm, 31 Jan 2020Updated: 1:22pm, 15 Feb 2020

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

The gaming sector already appears to be a big beneficiary of the coronavirus outbreak in China, where people are staying home and some cities are locked down. Now China’s gaming community is pitching in to help the containment of the outbreak.

Gamers rallied to support Wuhan, where the virus originated, with a fundraiser held in one of China’s biggest games: JX3 HD Remake by Seasun Games. The game has now raised more than 1.29 million yuan (US$185,500).

Tencent, NetEase and 22 other gaming companies also announced that they’re donating money and medical resources to areas hard-hit by the outbreak. So far, the total sum has reached more than 514 million yuan (US$74.1 million), with Tencent pitching in 300 million yuan (US$43.2 million) and NetEase 100 million yuan (US$14.4 million).

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