November 4th was officially dubbed ‘Game Day’ for the charity organization Extra Life, and game they did. In just 24-hours, Extra Life – with the help of thousands of streamers, organizations, and gamers – was able to raise $1,805,727. This puts Extra Life’s current 2017 total at $7.3 million, and it puts Extra Life $700k above what they were able to do last year.

Despite all the bad press about toxicity within gaming communities, gamers have proven themselves to be one of the most giving and supportive groups, and during marathon streams is when they come most alive. Numerous organizations stepped up to the plate to take time out of their schedules to officially sponsor their own streams on Game Day, including the staff at Paizo – makers of the Pathfinder tabletop game – and the staff at Imgur – makers of all things meme and Giraffe related. There were streams of D&D, esports, new titles like Mario Odyssey, and even classic arcade titles like Turtles in Time

While it was great to see organizations pitching in, success was also due to the community at large, and that is something Extra Life does very well. They empower groups and individuals to help personalize fund-raising on their level. We saw this first hand when we volunteered and spent time at PLAYlive Nation in Fullerton where the LA and OC guilds for Extra Life met to hold tournaments against one another and stay into the wee-hours (plus an extra one for Daylight Savings). Every person we met – from the streamers to the organizers to the staff at PLAYnation – was excited and enthusiastic to make a difference. It is the type of event that draws out the very best in gamers, and it is the kind of thing that draws the community together.

We are thrilled so many gamers game together to make a difference, and we can’t wait to see what happens next year!

To follow Extra Life or donate, visit https://www.extra-life.org