In May, Blizzard teamed up with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) to sell a pink Mercy skin in Overwatch as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. Going for $14.99, Blizzard pledged to donate all proceeds to charity in an effort to help a cause it believed in. I guess Blizzard knew the immense popularity of Overwatch could be channeled into something good for this world because it turns out that pink skin raised a staggering $12.7 million USD for BCRF.
Put another way, this $12.7 million is the single largest donation by a corporate partner within one year for the entire 25-year history of the BCRF. Blizzard does mention that some of that profit came from the sales of pink Mercy T-shirts along with the skin, but that is still an incredible figure. In addition to the money that Blizzard raised, streamers playing Overwatch accrued another $130,000 on Twitch.
Moments like these make me appreciative of the power that video games can have to bring people together. It truly is amazing to hear some positive came about from a corporate sponsor, for once.
Source: Destructoid Overwatch’s pink Mercy skin raised over .7 million