WeSave! Charity Play raises over $187,000 to fight Coronavirus

WeSave! Charity Play, an online tournament hosted by WePlay! to support the fight against Coronavirus, has raised $187,724.69 in total donations. 

The amount, which has been donated towards the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and GlobalGiving funds, was gathered over the course of seven days, and included donations from viewers, teams, and organiser WePlay!

(Credit: WePlay!)

WePlay! initially hosted the event with the intent to donate the entirety of its $150,000 prize pool towards CEPI and Global Giving, with that amount augmented by audience donations. Casters and broadcast talent also gave up their time and effort to contribute towards the tournament, with the 24 participating teams all forgoing their share of the tournament’s prize for a good cause.

Donations were incentivised by a series of stretch goals. Thanks to the contributions of viewers, at the $160,000, $170,000, and $180,000 mark, additional tournament features were added. The first goal added a Europe versus CIS Grand Final, the second a 3v3 NA All-Star match, and the last turned every final into a best-of-five. 

Despite being a charitable endeavour, this was still a serious and hotly contested event. Four teams from each of the Dota Pro Circuit regions battled it out for supremacy. In the end, the six winning teams were Team Nigma, Evil Geniuses, Thunder Predator, PSG.LGD, Team Adroit, and HellRaisers, who’d successfully navigated their bracket after some thrilling games.

• Read more: WePlay! announce the Dota 2 Pushka League a $250,000 online league for EU and CIS

In the Grand Final, CIS team HellRaisers, who’d defeated both Virtus.pro and Na’Vi in shocking upsets, faced off against a dominant looking Team Nigma. The Europeans initially floundered in the face of the raw lane aggression of the HellRaisers. The team only took control of the series after KuroKy, captain of Nigma, broke out his recently re-debuted Clinkz support. Nigma went on to win the series 3-2

Like past WePlay! events, the production values of and presentation of WeSave! Charity Play was high-quality and unique. With the analyst and casters desks decked out as a laboratory, the broadcast talent donned white, lab-style gear to present the event. Matches were interspersed with advice on staying healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic, while entertaining SFM animations were played, and guests called in from around the Dota 2 scene. On the final day, Ukrainian singer Michelle Andrade even debuted her new single on stream.

In a world where Dota 2 is rapidly shifting towards a fully online format, with WePlay! and ESL both announcing extensive league schedules, WeSave! Charity Play worked as both a proof of concept and a testament to what can be achieved by charitable esports fans. WePlay!’s next event will be their recently announced Pushka League, which starts on April 23rd.