Overwatch and Apex Legends players want developers to make charity skins to fundraise for the Australian fire relief effort

Overwatch Mercy
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Overwatch and Apex Legends players have taken to Reddit in an effort to convince Blizzard and Respawn to create cosmetic skins to raise funds for the Australian bushfire relief effort. Reddit user WhippitGudd sparked off the idea with a post calling for Blizzard to add charity skins players could purchase to donate to organisations tackling the Australian fires. 

For context, Australia has been hit by the worst wildfires seen in decades, ravaging acres of national parks, natural habitats, and residential areas, with thousands of homes impacted and potentially billions of animals killed. Many efforts have been made in all sorts of ways across the world to try and raise funds to help. 

Read more

(Image credit: EA)

Best Apex Legends weapons - All the best guns explained

So far, the post has 64k upvotes on the subreddit, and others have been quick to support the idea. Apex Legends players shared the original post on the Apex Legends subreddit,  where the community has also asked Respawn to fundraise by adding charity skins in the name of the cause.

This isn't the first time the communities have tried to rally support for important causes. As WhippitGudd pointed out, Blizzard created a charity skin in the past and had great success raising an impressive amount of money for a good cause, with the Mercy skin in support of the Breast Cancer Foundation raising $12.7 million back in 2018. Just last year, Apex Legends players got together to raise money for the relief effort for Mozambique's flooding crisis

The original post has since been shared on Blizzard's official forum, but so far neither developer has responded to the suggestion to create a charity skin. The amount of support behind the idea from both communities is very heartening to see, and any money raised for the relief effort truly does matter.  

Take a look back on the last ten years with our pick of the best 100 games of the decade, or watch the video below: 

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good. 

Latest in Adventure
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A will allegedly introduce 27 new Mega Evolutions, leakers claim, and we can only hope Flygon gets its chance this time
Minecraft Vibrant Visuals
16 years after Minecraft first released it's getting a modern visual upgrade with a retro lighting trick that Mojang hasn't seen "in any other game"
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Putting cigarettes in fish mouths in Thank Goodness You're Here
Thank Goodness You're Here's developer says it was trying to design a game normally before realizing "we're s**t at video game design"
Pokemon TCG Pocket Shiny Cards
How to get Shiny Pokemon in Pokemon TCG Pocket
Pokemon Legends: Z-A screenshot
Pokemon Legends: Z-A's director appears to be a Xenoblade Chronicles fan, and I'm now feeling very validated about a tiny detail I spotted in the upcoming RPG's gameplay trailer
Latest in News
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"
Fantastic Four: 1234 #2 cover excerpt
Sue Storm and Namor are officially both in Avengers: Doomsday, and fans are wondering if Reed Richards has something to worry about
The First Berserker: Khazan protagonist
The First Berserker: Khazan isn't even out yet, but the new Soulslike RPG already has over 1,300 94% positive reviews on Steam from early buyers
fool me once
Harlan Coben’s new novel is set to be "more of a sequel" to the hit Netflix series Fool Me Once: "I don’t know any time that’s ever happened"
Naoe looks over at a dense, lush, green forest in Assassin's Creed Shadows from a viewpoint
Getting Assassin's Creed Shadows on PS5 and Xbox Series X was all about adding "dynamism" to the open world, but the devs seem most proud about the trees
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 is Steam's latest viral hit – an open-world drug dealing simulator with 98% positive reviews, co-op, and a free sample to get you started