SpecialEffect, the award-winning charity that enables persons with physical disabilities to enjoy video games independently, has raised £500k through its annual One Special Day event. During the event held from October 6th to October 8th, SpecialEffect received donations from mobile and PC game sales and company-driven fundraising challenges. The company will use the funds from One Special Day to further aid the company’s mission of improving the quality of life of people with physical disabilities through video games.
SpecialEffect’s One Special Day event was first held in 2016. Since then, the annual event has raised over $2 million to help persons with disabilities worldwide. The charity provides custom technology loans to allow clients to play video games independently.
“Our team is facing an ever-increasing demand for all of our services – accessibility advice, assessments, the expansion and localisation of resources such as gameaccess.info, our DevKit and our Eye Gaze Games website – and the generous support of the games industry in securing the future of these life-transforming, free to access initiatives is hugely appreciated,” said SpecialEffect Founder and CEO Mike Donegan prior to this year’s event.
Next Year’s Event Date
More than 90 game industry partners came together through One Special Day to raise funds for the charity. 2024’s campaign will commence on October 4th of next year. However, you don’t have to wait for the next event to donate. The charity is accepting donations through the event website.
“We’re simply blown away by such an astonishing level of support from our friends in the games industry and community, especially at such a difficult time for many companies,” says Donegan. “Demand for our support continues to grow, and this amazing total will be a cornerstone in enabling us to bring the magic of gaming to thousands of people with physical disabilities and to help developers all over the world to make their games more accessible to all.”
We’ve also recently revealed that PG Connects, the leading games industry conference, is delighted to announce a significant partnership with SpecialEffect for its upcoming flagship show in London on January 22nd and 23rd.
Jack Brassell is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Jack is a self-proclaimed nerd with a lifelong passion for storytelling. As an author, Jack writes mostly horror and young adult fantasy. Also an avid gamer, she works as the lead news editor at Hardcore Droid. When she isn't writing or playing games, she can often be found binge-watching Parks & Rec or The Office, proudly considering herself to be a cross between Leslie Knope and Pam Beasley.
