Top Minecraft creators raise over $350K to fight AIDS & COVID-19 at the second ‘(RED) Creator Cup’

NEW YORK CITY — Some of the world’s top Minecraft creators have teamed up and raised over $350,000 in just three hours for the fight against AIDS and COVID-19. On August 4, 2022, (RED), the organization co-founded by Bono, hosted its second major livestreamed gaming event ‘The (RED) Creator Cup’ which sought to raise needed awareness and money to ensure testing, treatment, and vaccines are available to the most vulnerable. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation matched all money raised from the tournament, more than doubling the impact.

Creators, including Bajan Canadian, AntVenom, Joe Bartolozzi, Loony, Papaplatte, Legundo, the ItsFunneh Krew, and SpideyArmy from the Misfits Gaming Group teamed-up for the event, rallying their communities to donate and join (RED)’s mission. The three-hour tournament consisted of a customized (RED) Minecraft world created by Spark Universe, where creators played while giving fans opportunities to trigger real-time in-game events simply by donating. The audience was also treated with “Fandom Facts” – special trivia about each creator and the game of Minecraft – brought to the stream by Fandom, the world’s largest fan platform.

The stream was filled with fun surprises, including brand new (RED) partner, Panasonic, who joined in the tournament with surprise donation drops totaling $100,000 in support of the mission. Surprise mystery boxes also appeared in-stream for fans to win from (RED) partners such as AM Denmark, Anova Culinary, Barefoot Dreams, Earth Rated, FIAT, Jeep, KISS Products, Morel, RAM, Therabody, The Ridge, Vahdam India, and many more. 

“The (RED) Creator Cup is a great example of gamers and global health advocates converging to raise needed money and heat to combat the injustices that allow pandemics to thrive,” said Jennifer Lotito, President and COO of (RED). “Esports is one of the hottest trends around, and (RED) is engaging gamers and making it easy for them to join the fight and save lives. We thank the many creators and partners who stepped up to help turn gaming into a force for good.”

While the gaming tournament is over, the quest to fight AIDS and COVID continues. Gaming fans all over the world can access (RED)’s Tiltify fundraising tools to host their own fundraising streams, empowering gamers everywhere to stream and support (RED)’s mission wherever they are. 

CONTACT: Sean Simons, sean.simons@red.org