E-Access Bulletin Live

The video games industry is being asked to raise £100,000 in a single day later this month, to boost and support the number of gamers with disabilities.

Organised by gaming charity SpecialEffect, the One Special Day fundraising project takes place on September 29. The organisers are asking developers and other companies from across the video games industry to donate revenue from games sales and in-app purchases on the day.

Mark Saville from SpecialEffect told e-Access Bulletin that the idea for One Special Day came from a mobile games developer, who saw how much industry support was given to the ICAP Charity Day, where financial services company ICAP donated all revenue for one day to selected charities. Out of a desire to replicate this success for gamers with disabilities, One Special Day was born.

So far, over 40 companies are partnering the event, raising funds through donations and all kinds of other activities, such as bake sales, said Saville.

Companies can also donate prizes for a fundraising auction that takes place on the day. Prizes include VIP tours of top gaming studios and the chance for one winner to have a character from a game modelled on them.

Saville said that SpecialEffect are hopeful of raising the target amount of £100,000. Asked how the funds will be used to support gamers with disabilities, he said: “The money raised will be spent on supporting our core work, visiting and supporting gamers with disabilities across the UK and loaning specialist equipment.”

Saville continued: “A great example is Marley, who uses four chin joysticks to play his games. A spinal injury affects movement below his neck, but he’s got great head movement. We set up three chin-controlled joysticks for him and with the addition of some custom voice controls, he’s started playing ‘World of Warcraft’ again. We want people to play to the very, very best of their abilities.”

For more information and details about how to support the project, visit the One Special Day website:
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Find out more at SpecialEffect’s website:
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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2017 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Games, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.