Video game streaming has grown into an immensely popular and profitable form of entertainment, but as Direct Relief's data now revealed - streamers and their followers are equally as enthusiastic when it comes to charitable matters.
"Direct Relief has received over $9 million from the gaming community since 2016, via 53,382 donors as well as other corporate sources", the non-profit organisation wrote, and this is just on their end.
Twitch' gamers have shelled out $145 million to charity since 2011, which is quite the sum. In fact, $42 million came in the last year alone, so streaming is clearly much more than just fun and games.
Many outsiders are quick to paint these communities as toxic, but charity streamer Tim 'Trick2g' Foley says they're also pretty quick to get behind noble causes.
"There's definitely a different vibe in charity streams. I stream every day, there’s a bunch of trolls. If you let that get you… but when you do a charity stream, they just get behind it", he said.
His fellow streamer David Hunt thinks that helping people and being a part of something bigger goes a long way towards creating a feeling of camaraderie, which is rarely the case with regular streams.
"Growing up, I was always told video games were not going to amount to anything, it’s just a silly hobby. So many people have turned it into a job and done wonderful things because of it", he said.
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