Imagine you’re confined to the same room for an extended period of time. Worse yet, your friends and loved ones aren’t allowed to visit or, if they are, it’s for limited time periods and they have to wear a mask.
I’m actually not talking about most of us who have dealt with at least some degree of social isolation this year. I’m referring to young people who are hospitalized for long-term treatment. When the pandemic is under control and lives begin to return to normal, there will still be children confined to hospitals and it can be an incredibly discouraging environment without distractions or activities that make them feel less isolated.
Gamers Outreach is a charity organization that was started in 2009 as a way to deliver video games to children who were hospitalized. The organization provides equipment, technology, and software that helps thousands of kids each year.
Whether games are used as a distraction, socialization, or even as an educational tool, gaming can benefit the young patients as well as the staff. Access to games helps patients to pass the time, reduce pain levels, and make them feel more connected to the outside world.
VR Gamers Contribute
VR gamers want to help and you can as well! The Arena Charity Cup, featuring Ready At Dawn’s team-based zero-gravity sport game Echo Arena, will take place this weekend, October 17 and 18. You can sign up to participate, donate, or simply encourage participating teams when you stop by to watch the matches streamed live.
Competition begins at 1 pm PDT / 4 pm EDT.
Participate
If you’d like to participate in the Arena Charity Cup, you can sign up as an individual player or with your team. Format is as follows:
- 4 players on each team
- Saturday, Oct. 17: Double-elimination bracket, all teams
- Sunday, Oct. 18: Double-elimination playoffs (semis and finals)
Sign up to play on the Arena Charity Cup website.
Signups have been extended through Thursday, October 15 and there are some fantastic prizes so bring some friends, have fun, and raise money for hospitalized kids.
Donate
If you don’t play Echo Arena or can’t participate in the event this weekend, you can still donate through the website. Funds go to Gamers Outreach through Tiltify.
Donate through the Arena Charity Cup page on the Tiltify website.
Watch the Event
VR esports is becoming increasingly popular, especially with the port of competitive multiplayer games like Echo Arena to the Oculus Quest headsets. If you’d like to see some of esports action from a professional casting team, we recommend that you check out the production this weekend.
Professional casters from the Echo Arena VR Master League will be casting the event live on the Arena Charity Cup Twitch channel. The VR Master League is a community-driven platform that frequently supports community events and they host the largest number of Echo Arena players in any league across the VR esports ecosystem.
Watch live on the VR Master League Twitch channel.
Sponsors
HyperX, a prominent sponsor of notable gaming events like DreamHack and Pax, is providing the bulk of prizes for the Arena Charity Cup. The company is incredibly supportive and eager to promote this event as gamers raise money for charity.
Vince Quan, Marketing Coordinator for HyperX, stated that they were excited to sponsor the event and show their continued “support in the esports community. We embrace all gaming enthusiast everywhere with our core belief – We’re All Gamers.”
The top three teams will receive the following prizes, provided by HyperX.
- 1st Place: Cloud Mix headset (Bluetooth wireless headset that can also be used wired for gaming)
- 2nd Place: Cloud Alpha headset (dual-chamber drivers for better bass and less audio distortion)
- 3rd Place: Cloud Earbuds (with gaming headset-grade in-line mic)
You can learn more about HyperX and how their products can help you boost performance and enhance your experience by visiting their social media.
The three players, casters, or streamers who raise the most money for Gamers Outreach can also earn a prize for their fundraising efforts. A $50 cash prize will be awarded to these individuals from VR Community Builders, an organization dedicated to promoting positive environments in virtual reality and beyond.
Learn more about VR Community Builders through their website or by visiting their social media.
You can read more about this event in this article on VR League.gg.
