A group of gamers from Abertay University are taking their hobby to the next level in order to raise cash for those in need.
The video-game loving students are planning to drive, shoot and stream their way through a 24-hour gaming marathon, in an effort to raise £5,000 for three Scottish charity.Â
The online event, which could have as many as 200 participants, is being organised by the schools Ethical Hacking Society, which is led by its president, Sarah Cunningham.
She said: “Computing, hacking and gaming go hand in hand.
“Even just in our hacking society 90% of us play games, a lot of us will spend hours a day playing them anyway due to the pandemic.
“I think that the pandemic has been hard, so every night of the week I’m sitting playing video games its helped me with not being able to go out.
“This gives us a chance to sit and play video games for a good reason.
“We want to show that gamers can use their skills for good by playing games and raising money for charity.”
The marathon, which will be held on February 26, is not Dundee’s first.
A solo gamer held his own 24-hour marathon last year, and a small group of lecturers at Abertay have been doing 24-hour marathons for years, however they were forced to cancel in 2020 due to Covid.
All the money raised from the marathon will go to three charities – Alzheimer’s Scotland, Dundee Food Insecurity Network and Ninewells Children’s Ward – with organisers trying to keep the funds as local as possible.
The 21-year-old student added: “We wanted to raise money Alzheimer’s Scotland because that’s what the original guy who first did this years ago wanted to do.
“For the other two we decided to look at local charities which were more relevant to the pandemic, like the food insecurity network and the kids’ ward.”
Gamers of all shapes and sizes have been invited to take part in the marathon, with the team making an effort to arrange events for everyone.
While the 24-hour streams will be the focus of the fundraiser, other small tournaments such as a Minecraft building contest and Rocket League cup are being arranged, with prizes being offered to the best competitors.
Sarah added: “We’ve tried to offer as much as possible, but people are pretty much welcome to play whatever they want.
“We’ve got more competitive things like Overwatch and League of Legends, but if people would rather relax that’s fine too.”
Any gamers interested in taking on the challenge are invited to join the society’s Discord page.Â
