EA Gets Charitable With ‘Play to Give’

  Gamers, as we know, can go freaking nuts for trophies and achievements. Some of us buy games we’re not really assed about, just because there’s an easy platinum on offer. Or we’ll go the other route, dedicating ourselves to earning the most fiendish and ball-shrivelingly difficult achievements as a badge of honor.  

A lot of the time with games, online especially, your e-peen is everything. Really, that’s all you get from trophy hunting, other than the occasional in-game reward or the like. Remember when Bloodborne gave out that exclusive PS4 theme to those who had got the platinum trophy? That was a thing that happened, and it’s a thing that should happen so much more.

But hell. As that guy who came to my house trying to get me to join his cult said, it’s not all about material rewards. It’s not just about yourself. It’s about EA’s spangly new Play to Give initiative, which will see your in-game achievements make a difference to others’ lives.

Here’s Destructoid with the skinny:

‘EA has announced a new system they are putting in place, called Play to Give, that allows gamers to complete in-game challenges to make charitable donations. There are various charities involved, many focusing on STEM education, and a handful of participating games. The example given was an in-game objective in Battlefield 4 that has players assisting each other on the battlefield, that when completed will chip in towards a charity. A total of $1M will be donated over the course of the event.’

 It sounds like a great system, and a good way for communities to come together to earn in-game bonuses (the Star Wars Battlefront 3x score event that’s currently running, for instance) and do some real-world good too. As long as it’s not spread as thin as Ubisoft’s UPlay dealie. Hit the link for more on the charities, games and events involved.