2020 was not a good year for many of us. However, there were still some highlights in the gaming community that brought a smile to our faces. Here are 5 of them.
It wasn’t all bad: The last month of 2020 is coming to an end. For people around the globe, it has been a tough year due to the pandemic and other misfortunes.
The gaming sector was not spared either. We repeatedly received news of delays, problems, and even deaths from the gaming community. But it wasn’t all bad.
In 2020, gamers also often stood together, whether it was for donations to charities or support for COVID research. Here are 5 heartwarming stories from the past year.
Ingame Weddings during COVID
Due to restrictions on large events and gatherings in 2020, many people had to cancel planned celebrations. This included various weddings that had to be postponed.
However, some gamer couples found an alternative that not only allowed them to celebrate but also let them live out their shared passion: They got married in games.
Wedding in Black Desert: One such couple held their wedding, for example, in Black Desert Online. Even the developers of the MMORPG participated. Although there are no actual weddings in BDO, the couple and their guests were provided with everything necessary for a wedding.
- Locations for the wedding and subsequent “wedding photos” were set up
- There was a ceremony, and guests received lanterns and fireworks to light
- Shai musicians accompanied the celebration with wedding pieces
- Wedding cake and best wishes from the staff of Pearl Abyss
Wedding in Animal Crossing: But weddings were also celebrated in other games. Another couple used the popular game Animal Crossing: New Horizons to hold a small wedding there.
All friends were invited to the groom’s island, where the ceremony took place. Of course, the island was appropriately decorated. There were roses for the bride and she also received a fitting dress.
A screenshot of the wedding was posted on reddit, where it was celebrated by other players. The thread received over 34,000 upvotes and there were plenty of congratulations:
Video games enabled these people to have a small celebration despite the restrictions and incorporate their beloved hobby into it.
Friendly Fire 6
What is Friendly Fire? The regular marathon livestream called “Friendly Fire” has been held for the first time in 2015. Since then, German YouTubers, streamers, and influencers have been raising money for charitable purposes every year.
The money raised supports various organizations such as Deutsche Krebshilfe, Vier Pfoten e.V., Pacific Garbage Screening, or HateAid.
What happened in 2020? This year, the organizers of Friendly Fire held two events where money was donated. In April, an unscheduled charity stream called “Friendly Distancing” was spontaneously held during the first lockdown.
During this, the members of the Friendly Fire team streamed from home on their Twitch channels and raised €147,000 for those affected by the COVID pandemic. Twitch also contributed an additional €15,000.
The second, larger Friendly Fire stream took place on December 5 and lasted for 12 hours. The team from PietSmiet, Gronkh, Pandorya, PhunkRoyal, and other streamers and YouTubers participated.
Together, the guys and gals collected an impressive €1,057,939.50 in viewer donations and another €560,000 from the sale of merchandise (as of December 7), which will go to various charitable organizations.
It was definitely one of the most beautiful actions that took place in the gaming community in 2020.
Gamer Friends for Life
However, one does not need to collect a million euros or organize huge donation campaigns to bring joy to a gamer. Another lovely story from 2020 revolves around two simple gamer friends and a PS5.
The new console from Sony has been on the market for just over a month, but due to high demand and bot purchases, it is sold out everywhere. Only on eBay can you still find it, but only at exorbitant prices.
Consequently, there are many gamers who would love to buy a PS5 but still come up empty. However, one such gamer experienced a great surprise when a good friend gifted him the console.
The reddit user ghost_knight1121 was lucky enough to snag two PS5s. He gifted one of them to his friend, whom he met over 15 years ago in the multiplayer shooter Rainbow Six Vegas on the Xbox 360.
The two became such close friends that they even met in real life and became witnesses at each other’s weddings. ghost_night1121 wrote:
He [his friend] tried, but couldn’t buy one. […] I’m looking forward to gaming with him for another generation.
This shows that even “online friendships” can be very close friendships.
Players Assist in COVID Research
Many reports revolved around the coronavirus in 2020, which significantly impacted our lives. The gaming industry was also affected by delays and postponements. However, scientists and developers also found a way to involve the gamer community in virus research.
The MMORPG EVE Online is known for its huge space battles where immense amounts of in-game resources and currency are shot and exploded. Thanks to a mini-game, players helped scientists collect data on COVID-19.
Players had to solve small tasks in EVE where they needed to encircle as many points from cell clusters as possible. The data collected helped scientists better understand the virus.
In total, EVE players were able to solve over 47 million such tasks, which equated to about 36 years of cell categorization for scientists. This means that typically, scientists would have needed 36 years to collect this data using conventional methods.
We turned it into a fun game. There are incentives for people to try it out… but it’s also just the heart and soul of our community. These are things that our community truly enjoys and it’s something that really happens for the good of the public.
David Eckert, Lead Producer of EVE Online
But even outside of EVE, the gaming community helped with COVID-19 research. Scientists from the University of Washington developed a mini-game called Fold It to assist in creating a medication for the virus, which was downloaded by numerous players.
And even the graphics giant NVIDIA called on their community worldwide to chip in against the virus. Players could install a program on their PC that helped with protein simulation at Stanford University.
Thus, the gaming community also participated in 2020 as best as they could: with their gaming skills and gaming platforms.
GTA Community Honors Deceased Player
Although the occasion for this community action is very sad, it was still nice to see how gamers can support each other and stand together in tough times.
In recent years, a large role-playing scene has flourished in GTA V that even captivated and thrilled big streamers like Summ1tG. One of the main contributors to this was the player blue662, who was a very active GTA-V role player.
He especially supported smaller YouTubers and streamers and was a very helpful gamer. When blue662 suddenly passed away in the summer of 2020, the news hit the entire RP community of GTA V.
His family opened a GoFundMe page asking for a small amount for the funeral. However, “a small amount” was not in the community’s vocabulary. Within just 14 hours, over $44,000 landed in the donation account.
Players left touching messages and condolences to the family. The streamer Summ1tG, who was good friends with blue662, couldn’t hold back his tears during a stream.
The family was deeply moved by the many generous donations. They took a part of the money for the funeral and donated the rest. It went to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, the Lupus Society, and some local animal shelters.
What events in the community did you find the most beautiful in 2020? Were there any that particularly touched you? Let us know in the comments!
