Rockstar Games Donating 5% of Online Revenue to Support COVID-19 Relief Efforts

  • 5% of in-game spending from both titles will be donated to relief efforts
  • The donation campaign will run through the end of May
  • Estimates suggest as much as $2 million could be donated each month ?
Sadonna Price

gamer playing Red Dead Redemption II
New York-based Rockstar Games is donating 5% of revenue generated from GTA Online and Red Dead Online to support COVID-19 relief efforts. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Supporting the fight against coronavirus

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to sweep across the globe, many businesses are finding ways to help.

Rockstar Games has pledged to donate 5% of revenue generated from in-game purchases on GTA Online and Red Dead Online to support relief efforts.

pledged to donate 5% of revenue generated from in-game purchases on GTA Online and Red Dead Online

In a statement, Rockstar Games said: “As our teams navigate these difficult times, we see our local communities across North America, the United Kingdom, India, and beyond being deeply affected.”

Rockstar Games announced its donation plans via Twitter:

Donations begin today

The first donations will be made by Rockstar Games today based on in-game spending. The New York-based company will be running the donation campaign through the end of May. Information will be provided by Rockstar Games as to where the donations have been sent at a later date.

According to Wedbush Securities analyst, Michael Pachter, the donations could total around $2m each month. However, Rockstar Games does not disclose monthly or quarterly revenue for individual games. Therefore, it is hard to calculate just how much could be generated from these donations.

Very popular titles among gamers

Both GTA and Red Dead are extremely popular video games. Released in 2018, Red Dead Redemption II sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. Rockstar Games has sold over 115 million copies of Grand Theft Auto V.

Players can access online content with the games as well, where real money is used to purchase virtual goods. In GTA Online, players visit the Diamond Casino & Resort, spending money on casino games and other items. It is this spending that will go toward the game development company’s donation efforts.

GTA Online Casino player spending

The COVID-19 relief efforts by Rockstar Games could be quite substantial in part by the GTA Online Casino. The casino was added to the game in July 2019 and boosted player spending by 23% based on Q2 results.

According to Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive, the addition of the casino was the biggest content launch to date. It delivered record player engagement across daily, weekly, and monthly users the month it launched and thereafter. ?

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