The Game Informer Extra Life Team Auctions Gaming History #ForTheKids

Game Informer has been turning out to support Extra Life since 2011. Their efforts began as a community effort for that first year before snowballing, drawing in the editors and artists that work on the magazine and website. Since then, the team’s Game Day stream has grown larger and larger with each passing year. This year, Game Informer’s streaming efforts and their wonderful community managed to raise almost $80,000. In total, the Game Informer team has managed to raise almost $350,000 for Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul, Minnesota.

To achieve their stellar results year after year, Game Informer has been able to come up with a great Game Day program. The editors on working the live stream focused on group games to foster a competitive spirit along with a couple strategically picked solo titles to bring in additional viewers. Divided into 1-2 hour blocks of time, Game Informer’s staff played party games like Pictionary and Jackbox Party Pack 6 with the audience while challenging one another in matches of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Goldeneye, and Heave Ho. Other segments had editors providing commentary while playing through The Last of Us: Left Behind, Final Fantasy VII, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Hard Mode. Throughout all of this, viewers were able to donate to force editors into a wide variety of masks and suits, pie one another in the face, or even eat bugs or the notorious clam-dy canes.

However, one of the biggest draws to the Extra Life stream every year are the auctions. During various chunks of time throughout the 25-hour Game Day stream, the livestream would switch over to the auction desk, where unique, one-of-a-kind items were put up for viewers to bid on in the Twitch and YouTube chats. These auctions included unobtainable shirts that had been used as promotional items for games going all the way back to the 90s, gaming themed bundles, consoles, rare collector’s editions, signed magazines by the staff, signed posters from development teams, action figures, and so much more. These are things that usually can no longer be bought anywhere else, so the auctions draw a lot of attention from hardcore gaming fans.

While those auctions and opportunities have come and gone for 2019, those who want to continue to support Game Informer still can! If you are interested in joining their team to do an end of the year fundraising stream or donating to their overall total, you can do so on Game Informer’s Extra Life team page.

Finally, we just want to say thank you to everyone in the Game Informer community and everyone who worked so hard on the Game Informer staff who gave their time and energy to helping kids. It’s so inspiring to see you all come together, whether that’s over the Game Day stream or an obscure game like OverBlood, to do something incredible to support the most vulnerable among us in getting the care they need to live happy and healthy lives.

It’s never too late to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! Donations for 2019 are accepted year-round!