- Facebook Gaming and Greenlit Content are launching an e-sports tournament featuring professional athletes in order to raise money for COVID-19 relief.
- The tournament will launch on Friday, April 17, and continue weekly, with winners earning money to donate to charities of their choice.
- Many are using video games to stay connected amid social distancing, and the tournament aims to bring people closer together while raising money for relief.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Facebook Gaming and Greenlit Content announced today that they were partnering to launch the #PlayApartTogether tournament, an e-sports event featuring professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB, and PGA roughing it out in a variety of games. The tournament, which will be streamed exclusively on Facebook Gaming, will kick off with a first stream on Friday, April 17 from 8 p.m. EST to 11 p.m. EST. The winner of each week will win $25,000 to donate to the charity of their choice to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
Many are turning to games to stay connected while maintaining social isolation, with platforms like Twitch and Facebook Gaming hosting livestream tournaments and events to both foster community and raise money. There's plenty of community use as well, with gamers meeting up in games like Animal Crossing to recreate milestones that they're missing in real life or just hang out with their friends.
Competitors in the #PlayApartTogether tournament will duke it out over games like "Fortnite," "Rocket League," "NBA 2K20," and "FIFA 20," among others. Viewers will be able to track participants, brackets, and standings throughout the tournament using Facebook Gaming's recently launched tournaments tool. During each tournament stream, viewers will also be able to donate money to the United Nations Foundation's COVID-19 fundraiser for the WHO via Facebook donation tools.
The list of competitors includes: Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, and JaVale McGee from the NBA; Justin Herbert, Christian McCaffrey, Joe Burrow, and Jarvis Landry of the NFL; the WWE's Ron "The Truth" Killings; Alex Bregman and Lance McCullers of the MLB; PGA golfer Bryson DeChambeau; and influencer Jen Selter.
"Gaming has become a natural respite for many of us, so offering the chance to hook up with fellow gamers online, watch some great talent take part in live matches, and raise money to hlep ease the burden on our heroic frontline healthcare workers felt like the perfect way to address lots of pressing issues at once, in a fun and social way," Greenlit Content's John Benyamine said.
The tournament is part of the ongoing #PlayApartTogether campaign, which has a brought a variety of video game companies together in order to promote WHO messaging and raise money for COVID-19 relief.
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