On Saturday, Twitch hosted a celeb-studded marathon charity broadcast dubbed Stream Aid to raise money for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund — whose aims are to prevent, detect, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic on a global level.
The 12-hour stream, which saw appearances from YouTuber Lindsey Stirling, Joe Jonas (who faced off against top gaming luminary Turner ‘Tfue’ Tenney in a Fortnite battle), Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman (who hosted a meditation tutorial), Charlie Puth, and John Legend, raised roughly $2.8 million for the cause, Twitch confirmed over the weekend. All told, WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund has raised a total of $108 million (of a $675 million goal) in just two weeks.
According to creator analytics firm Arsenal.gg, Stream Aid garnered peak concurrent viewership of 135,000 on Saturday, and a collective watch-time of over 1.2 million hours. Donations are still being accepted right here.
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During Stream Aid, individual creators could raise money for the fund by launching their own campaigns using Twitch’s donation tools, or simply by co-streaming alongside the official Stream Aid on their respective channels. Furthermore, Procter & Gamble announced that it had donated $1 million to the cause, while Twitch also launched a new emote for the occasion — a virtual hug in the form of a gradient-hued heart. (Emotes are icons that proliferate in Twitch chats, and serve as a native means of communication on the platform).
And Twitch has said that the 12-hour Stream Aid is just the beginning of its efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The platform is readying a week’s worth of fundraising initiatives, with details to follow.
