The world is supporting the crisis in Japan, but that support doesn’t just end with individuals and governments. Game companies are stepping up too. Valve is trying to get gamers to buck up by buying Japanese-themed Team Fortress 2 hats (all proceeds after tax to Red Cross). Two MMO companies are taking another route.
NCSoft has donated over 6,000,000 USD directly to Japan, which overshadowed every other Korean corporation donation at the time it was made (including Samsung and LG). It even outshadowed Japanese corporations donations like Nintendo and Sony. Now it is likely that Japanese corporations are “donating” with paid-time off and other ways to help employees and their communities, but it does put a point on NCSoft’s significant generosity.
US-based Trion Worlds with the shiny-new MMO Rift is taking a more personal route. They are finding their Japanese customers and giving them a free month of play. It’s not necessarily as humanitarian as donating money to aid, but it adds yet another showing that Trion Worlds values its customers. I have recently been a little critical of the mid-level zones and fuzzy edges of the dynamic content engine, yet as I noted in my last Rift post, they are keeping me a happy customer.
Prayers and thoughts continue to go to the island gaming nation. Also, one can never have too many hats.
–Ravious