Activision Blizzard has donated $2 million to help veterans affected by the COVID-19 outbreak find employment.
The donation was made to the Call of Duty Endowment fund. Over the past month, employment assistance requests for veterans have increased by 50 per cent year-on-year.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in veterans asking our partners for assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Call of Duty Endowment executive director Dan Goldenberg.
“We’ve been committed to helping veterans find meaningful employment for over 10 years, but we’ve never seen anything like this. Veterans will need our help more than ever, and through Activision Blizzard’s donation and support from the gaming community, we’re well-positioned to provide that help.”
The American firm gave the money to kick off National Military Appreciation Month, a social media campaign dubbed #CODEFearlessChallenge is also taking place to show support for veterans.
Furthermore, as part of the campaign, Activision Blizzard will release a "Fearless" downloadable pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone. All proceeds from the sales of the DLC will go to the Call of Duty Endowment Fund.
“Military veterans need our support more than ever,” said Call of Duty Endowment co-chairmen Bobby Kotick.
“With unemployment rates at all-time highs, we know from past experience that veterans will be far more affected than ordinary citizens. With this donation to the Call of Duty Endowment, we hope to find jobs for at least 4,000 veterans.”
Multiple companies have made donations to help those affected by the coronavirus. Last month, Bethesda gave $1 million to aid in relief efforts. Meanwhile, CD Projekt Red donated $950,000 to help fight the disease in Poland.