6 gaming charities announce Stronger Together in Games campaign to help game developers in need

It’s like a game industry charity Voltron.

Image: Stronger Together in Games fundraising campaign

Earlier today, six prominent charities announced that they’re working together on a new initiative, named Stronger Together in Games, to help support both game industry workers and players in crisis and struggle. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F), Women in Games International (WIGI), Global Game Jam, Take This, and Game to Grow are all amazing organizations that have been around for a very long time.

Each organization comes from a different side of the industry. But, by having them work together, they are, as the campaign is named, “stronger together in games.”

The International Game Developers Association and IGDA Foundation are technically run by the same organization but are separate entities. Both focus on (obviously) the game developers and help support and offer resources for them across the industry. But, the Foundation is specifically the charitable side of it, with a push to help underrepresented and marginalized devs.

While the IGDA and IGDA-F focus on the well-being of game developers as a whole, organizations like Take This support the mental health of both devs and players. You can find Take This at most major conventions handling the Take This AFK Rooms, which give a quiet space to unwind.

We actually talked to Take This Community Director Dr. Kelli Dunlap back in July about various initiatives and the AFK Rooms here on GameCrate.

Women in Games International has been around for a very long time as well, helping support, as the name suggests, women within the game industry. Their reach goes everywhere from digital games to tabletop games, as well as esports and more.

Game to Grow is another non-profit organization in the mix, with its focus being on using games for therapeutic, educational, and community growth.

The Global Game Jam, on the other hand, is a huge game jam that happens yearly and has both amateur and professional devs work together to build games, prototypes, and interactive experiences across a single weekend…for charity.

The plan for the campaign is to hit $100,000 from crowdfunded donations by December 31st, 2023. They’ll also have up to $50,000 matched from corporations, which includes Amazon Games, Foundation Law, Google for Games, Midwest Games, Modulate, and SEGA of America.

Their reasoning is simple: It’s been a tough year for game developers. With layoffs and struggles throughout the year, it’s great to see the industry coming together to battle mental health crises and help keep people above water.

You’ll likely see a big signal boost with a 24-hour charity livestream on Friday, December 8th, over on the campaign’s Givebutter page.