Niantic Donates US $10 Million to Support BLM and Non-profits

Outraged by the unlawful death of George Floyd, American citizens have been protesting against the systemic racism present within the country.

Black Lives Matter has been gaining global support with the movement spreading to countries like Canada and the UK.

Companies and non-profit organizations around the world have announced donations for the movement.

Niantic had previously committed to donating a minimum of US$5 million of their Pokémon GO Fest 2020 ticket sales to support the movement.

Niantic announced on Monday that it would donate US$10 million of its Pokémon GO Fest 2020 ticket sales to non-profit organizations.

Its previous commitment of US$ 5 million was increased due to the high amounts of tickets sold.

The company commented:

“At the beginning of June, we announced a pledge of a minimum of $5 million to fund non-profit organizations in the U.S. that are helping local communities rebuild, in addition to funding new projects from Black gaming and AR creators that can live on the Niantic platform, with the ultimate goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view on the world. We’re so happy to share that based on the total amount of tickets sold, we’re increasing that pledge to more than $10 million.”

Niantic will donate

• To U.S. non-profit organizations that are helping to rebuild local communities
• US$100,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, and will match employee donations up to US$50,000
• US$60,000 to the Game head non-profit organization for teaching game development to kids

Niantic, Inc. has assured that it will also take measures internally to promote diversity, inclusivity, and awareness within the company.

The company has also started a local business recovery initiative to help revive small businesses and support them.

It has assured players that they will spend the next few weeks to narrow down to 1,000 businesses out of the 33,000 responses they received.

This year’s Pokémon GO Fest ran from Saturday to Sunday as a virtual event. The event saw significant adjustments to the gameplay mechanics to ensure the safety of its players.

Source: Niantic