Friendly Fire 5 raised over one million euros in donations for a good cause in 2019. Well-known German Twitch streamers and YouTubers like Gronkh and PietSmiet raised a lot of money in a 12-hour live stream on Twitch. Fabian Mario Döhla showcased an Xbox One X designed for “Cyberpunk 2077.”
What is Friendly Fire? Some friendly German YouTubers and Twitch streamers have been organizing a charity event for 5 years. It is a twelve-hour live stream on Twitch.
Involved are among others the pioneers of German gaming YouTube, Erik “Gronkh” Range and PietSmiet. They come from YouTube but have gradually also switched to Twitch.
They play various games for over 12 hours, host a show to entertain their viewers, and encourage them to donate or spend money on merchandise that is then donated to a good cause.
It’s primarily about having fun together. In 2019, CD Project Red was one of the main sponsors – hence there were several activities related to “The Witcher” and “Cyberpunk 2077.”
The Friendly Fire event began in 2015. At that time, €170,000 was raised. Over the years, it has grown bigger. In 2018, during Friendly Fire 4, €887,500 was already raised.
This number was again surpassed at Friendly Fire 5, much to the delight of all involved. Right from the start of the event, €100,000 was quickly raised, and it increased further.
Donations at Friendly Fire 5 exceed one million
How much money was raised this time? As the organizers announced at the end of their stream, “over one million euros” was raised. The exact amount will be announced later, but a million is enough as a headline, they say.
A total of €722,000 was donated, €300,000 came from merchandise sales, and another €35,000 from auctions.
What was the money donated for at Friendly Fire 5? The donations go to the following organizations:
- Social Heroes
- PrimaKlima e.V.
- Practice Without Borders – Segeberg e.V.
- HateAid gGmbH
- Open Knowledge Foundation Germany
- Rescue Germany e.V.
- German Animal Protection League e.V.
- Pacific Garbage Screening e.V.
How many watched Friendly Fire 5 on Twitch? The main channel of the event was Gronkh’s Twitch channel. The stream lasted 12.8 hours, an average of 87,405 people watched, and just over 100,000 at peak. (via sullygnome)
When is the next event? Friendly Fire 6 is expected to take place on December 5, 2020.
Cyberpunk Xbox One X – Auction stands at over €13,000
What was up with the Xbox? The PR manager of CD Projekt Red (The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077) is the German Fabian Mario Döhla. He showcased a custom Xbox One X in the look of Cyberpunk 2077 at Friendly Fire 5 together with Maxi Gräff from Microsoft. This is a one-of-a-kind piece.
The console is currently being auctioned on eBay, the bid stands at €13,450 (via ebay)
The ironic twist in this presentation was that Döhla had leaked the final design of the first Xbox during the premiere show of GIGA nearly 20 years ago. This leak was neither planned nor approved by Microsoft.
Döhla has told this story several times, always with seemingly great pain. It is visibly embarrassing for him today, as an experienced “industry veteran,” what kind of solo act he pulled off back then as a rookie.
It has now become a running gag that he is frequently asked about, and he also jokes about it himself.
At Friendly Fire, the German-speaking Twitch presents itself in its best light. This can help correct the image that has recently been drawn of Twitch in Germany.
