{"id":1958,"date":"2020-08-31T13:51:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T12:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.specialeffect.org.uk\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2021-10-21T17:28:41","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T16:28:41","slug":"fall-guys-auction-raises-1m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.specialeffect.org.uk\/news\/fall-guys-auction-raises-1m","title":{"rendered":"Fall Guys Auction raises $1M"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Battle of the Brands auction for a character costume design in the hit video game\u00a0Fall Guys<\/a>\u00a0has raised $1M for SpecialEffect.<\/p>\n

The online auction, organised by the game\u2019s creators\u00a0Mediatonic<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Devolver<\/a>,\u00a0saw a bidding war that included some of the video game community\u2019s most popular streamers. A last-minute combined donation of $1M by\u00a0@MrBeastYT<\/a>,\u00a0@Ninja<\/a>,\u00a0@G2esports<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@aimlab<\/a>\u00a0was the highest bid.<\/p>\n

The winners have also announced that they will be organising a livestream in support of the charity. More details will be announced in due course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re blown away,\u201d said Dr Mick Donegan, Founder and CEO of SpecialEffect. \u201cA huge thank you to\u00a0@MrBeastYT<\/a>,\u00a0@Ninja<\/a>,\u00a0@G2esports<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@aimlab<\/a>\u00a0for their amazing generosity, and to Mediatonic and Devolver Digital for this unique initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions hit earlier this year, the charity was facing a significant reduction in funding income due, in part, to many of its key fundraising events being cancelled or postponed. As a charity that doesn\u2019t charge for its services, this donation will be invaluable in helping to make up for that shortfall. It will enable us to continue an uninterrupted service for the many people with severe physical disabilities and developers around the world who are asking for our help in ever greater numbers year on year. What\u2019s more, the demands on our services are rising even more rapidly as a result of the auction itself. Bring it on!\u201d<\/p>\n

We’ll be able to help more people like\u00a0Aaron<\/a>, whose spinal muscular atrophy severely restricts his movements. Our assessment team helped him to be able to play again to the best of his abilities with a customised setup loan that he uses with his feet and fingers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my disability, I\u2019m limited in doing things,\u201d said Aaron. \u201cGaming has really opened up the door for me and my life is back to the way it was. I can play games, I have a social network like I did before, I have friends. It helps connect you to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The donation will boost all aspects of our work, including the development of a range of globally available resources for accessible gaming such as\u00a0EyeMine<\/a>, a utility for playing Minecraft with eye-control. We also provide support and advice for software development, helping the likes of EA, Playground Games, DoubleFine, and Rare to make games like Forza Motorsport, FIFA, and Sea of Thieves more easily playable.<\/p>\n

Below: Eight year-old Theo is a huge fan of obstacle games, but the games controller and iPad were too hard for him. Our assessment team recently set him up with a special joystick and buttons combo. Since then it\u2019s been much easier for him to play and he\u2019s now having a blast with Fall Guys!<\/em><\/p>\n