Extra Life

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Overview

Extra Life is an annual charity campaign in which gamers play various games in a 24-hour marathon session to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 2008, the charity has raised of $50 million, thanks in part to platforms like Twitch which hosts streams of the marathon sessions.

Background

Extra Life was formed in 2008.^[1] It was inspired by the story of Victoria Enmon, a young girl who passed away from acute leukemia. During one of Enmon's treatment stints, the website Sarcastic Gamer put out a call for video games for Victoria to play during her stay. She ended up receiving games from all over the world and passing them on to other kids in the hospital. This inspired the creation of Extra Life by Jeromy Adams.

Developments

The charity has run annually every year since 2008, with more gamers participating and more money raised each year, peaking with $11 million in 2018. The group has raised over $50 million in its ten-year run as of November 1st, 2019. In 2010, the charity partnered with Rooster Teeth, ^[2] who have run yearly streams since. It also partnered with Reddit.^[3]

Other streamers who have participated are the LetsPlay YouTube channel (shown below, left) and Game Informer (shown below, right). In 2019, Reddit joined in by adding an "Extra Life" award which could be purchased alongside their Gold, Silver, and Platinum badges.^[3] Reddit will match the first $15,000 of all coins purchased through November 2nd, 2019, the day of the charity event.