# 24-hour gaming marathon raises £48k for Special Effect

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/03/08/24-hour-gaming-marathon-raises-48k-special-effect/
- Published: 2014-03-08T14:25:14+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Disability gaming charity SpecialEffect has raised £48,000 from its inaugural GameBlast
weekend, a 24-hour gaming event hosted by Cambridge-based Jagex Games Studio, makers
of the fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) RuneScape.

 

The marathon, which attracted 90,000 unique viewers over the course of the day, 
involved staff and selected members of the RuneScape community playing [RuneScape](http://www.RuneScape.com)
and [Ace of Spades](http://www.AceofSpades.com).

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## How income was raised

 

During the event viewers were encouraged to make donations on the studio’s JustGiving
page. In addition the in-game Well of Goodwill re-opened for the weekend. This allowed
players to donate to charity the gold they had won during the game, together with
other items and RuneScape bonds, which were then converted into a real world contribution
on their behalf.

 

Also, 50% of all profits from the sales of Ace of Spades during the weekend were
donated to SpecialEffect.

 

 * JustGiving – £9,380.80
 * RuneScape – £25,412.50
 * Ace of Spades – £13,759

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jane Ryan, Head of RuneScape Community Management and co-organiser of [Jagex](http://www.Jagex.com)’
s gaming marathon, said:

 

“It’s been great to see our players really get behind such a worthy cause as SpecialEffect.
It’s been a crazy 24 hours; we’ve seen staff rise to the occasion and take on all
kinds of challenges in the name of charity. The generosity of our players is both
touching and gratifying and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!”

 

Dr Mick Donegan, Founder and Director of [SpecialEffect](http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/),
added:

 

“This has turned out to be our biggest gamer-driven fundraising event ever and we
cannot express how grateful we are for the support we have received. The money raised
this weekend will help us to bring video games to all those who are passionate about
them, whatever their disability.”

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