On Saturday, thousands of gamers will sit on their butts all day to raise millions of dollars for sick kids.
The Extra Life marathon challenges players to game for 25 hours straight as a way to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network, a group of 170 hospitals worldwide that specialize in treatment of children with cancer, traumatic injuries and genetic disorders. They don't have to sit on their butts, of course, but they'll play any type of game for the duration starting Nov. 2.
See also: Students Recreate 17th Century London in 3D for Video Game
Extra Life works like a charity walkathon or marathon, in which participants ask friends and family to donate for each hour of play. The recommended starting donation is $25 or $1 per hour. Last year, Extra Life raised $2.1 million, according to a Children's Miracle Network spokesperson. This year, it has already crossed $2 million in donations — and that's before the marathon has even started.
Participants are encouraged to play any type of game during the marathon. Many choose to play games together, speed-run through classic titles or play motion-based games through the Kinect and Wii. To keep morale up, many stream their efforts via networks like Twitch or Ustream live for friends and viewers.
Twitch says philanthropic streaming has been huge for its network, which currently boasts 45 million monthly active users. In the last year, Twitch users have raised $8 million for different charitable causes, one of which is Extra Life. Others include AbleGamer, which raises money adaptive equipment for gamers with disabilities, and Speed Demos Archive, which has raised $700,000 for cancer research this year by streaming their marathons of running through games as fast as possible.
Twitch said it has 4,500 users signed up to participate in the game-a-thon. Other gaming publications are also organizing their own streaming efforts, including Giant Bomb and GameSpot. Game publishers are growing involved as well. Sony is incentivizing participation by partnering with Extra Life; the company is offering prizes to those who raise money, including a free month of PlayStation Plus accounts for $10 raised and free games (like LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation Vita) for raising even more. Jeromy Adams started Extra Life in 2008, inspired by a friend's battle with cancer. After her passing, Adams gathered his friends to play games and raised $302,000 for the Children's Miracle Network (CMN) hospital near his home in Texas. Sometime after, he officially joined CMN as its Radiothon Director.
While it's too late to set up an Extra Life campaign, those interested can follow along with events on Twitch or other streaming websites and donate throughout the day to various campaigns.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani