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Press release:
A Battle of the Brands auction for a character costume design in the hit video game “Fall Guys” has raised $1M for SpecialEffect.

The online auction, organised by the game’s creators Mediatonic and Devolver, saw a bidding war that included some of the video game community’s most popular streamers. A last-minute combined donation of $1M by @MrBeastYT, @Ninja, @G2esports and @aimlab was the highest bid.

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.

“We’re blown away,” said Dr Mick Donegan, Founder and CEO of SpecialEffect.

“A huge thank you to @MrBeastYT, @Ninja, @G2esports and @aimlab for their amazing generosity, and to Mediatonic and Devolver Digital for this unique initiative.”

“When 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’t 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’s more, the demands on our services are rising even more rapidly as a result of the auction itself. Bring it on!”

The charity will be able to help more people like eight year-old Theo, who is a huge fan of obstacle games, but the games controller and iPad were too hard for him to use. Our assessment team recently set him up with a special joystick and buttons setup combination. Since then it’s been much easier for him to play and he’s now having a blast with Fall Guys!

The donation will boost all aspects of the charity’s work, including the development of a range of globally available resources for accessible gaming such as EyeMine, a utility for playing Minecraft with eye-control. The charity also provides 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.
Upcoming events:
Companies from across the games industry are pledging to support SpecialEffect for their One Special Day initiative on Friday 2 October 2020. More details at http://onespecialday.org.uk/get-involved/

About SpecialEffect
SpecialEffect are putting fun and inclusion back into the lives of people with physical disabilities by helping them to play video games. By using technology ranging from modified games controllers to eye-control, they’re finding a way for people to play to the very best of their abilities. But they’re not just doing it for fun. By levelling the playing field, they’re bringing families and friends together and having a profoundly positive impact on inclusion, confidence and rehabilitation.