Blizzard donates $1.1 million to Make-A-Wish from Pandaren pet sales
by Robin Torres 
Feb 17th 2010 at 2:00PM
Blizzard has a long standing relationship with Make-A-Wish. The story of Ezra is heartwarming, though tragic. Mike Morhaime also thanked the players:
Purchasing the Pandaren Monk pet no longer donates money to the cause, but is still available at the Blizzard Store.This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players -- their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
taijathehuntress Feb 18th 2010 12:29AM
Glad to see it went to a good cause. I'm glad also to have been on of the "donors". I love my pandaren monk.
Guidinglight Feb 17th 2010 2:04PM
That is only pennies for a company of that size. My bet is they are only looking at the great tax benefit it will give Blizzard. However they spin it, Blizzard only looks out for themselves.
Scott Feb 17th 2010 2:08PM
What a horrible way to start this thread.
One must remember that it's not mandatory for Blizzard to support any charity. Any donation, whether directly by the company or in partnership with WoW players, is in turn an act of kindness and generosity.
Sunstreaker84 Feb 17th 2010 2:10PM
When was the last time you donated 1.1 mil to charity?
Seriously, companies exist to make money. They sell shit to consumers, this is the basis of your entire modern society. Hating on a company because it makes money is like bitching because water is wet.
I'm glad that I had a small part in that check. Did I get something out of it? Yes. Did Blizzard? Sure. Did the charity? Shit yeah.
I call it a win/win/win. Stop hating the panda for eating bamboo.
Jeff Feb 17th 2010 2:12PM
They're a business. Deal with it. Don't pretend Blizz is the only company to ever do this.
How about you be happy that Make-a-Wish has received $1.1 Million?
Cyanea Feb 17th 2010 2:13PM
Of course Blizzard is looking out for itself. If it didn't, and wasn't turning a profit, you'd be out of a game to play.
They had no obligation to give money to charity. Since they did and it was a large sum means they're pretty good in my book compared to most corporations
jealouspirate Feb 17th 2010 2:14PM
@ Scott
While it certainly is possible Blizzard decided to do this solely out of kindness and care, Blizzard does benefit from doing things like this. The Pandaren pet made them 1.1 million dollars and got them a bunch of positive publicity. Great press is something a company wants to have and helps customers keep coming back to their products. It's a less tangible benefit than money, but it is nonetheless very important.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Feb 17th 2010 2:19PM
Sadly, my first thought was "Holy cow! 200,000 people bought the panda." (I did and so did my fiancé.)
Too bad they couldn't:
a) give the full amount to the charity since they are still going to be making money off the Kel pet
b) why not continue in the tradition of giving to charity and give the money they now will collect to another charity.
Or C) drop the price down to 5 bucks instead of 10 now that they are no longer giving money to charity)
I know they're a business and they don't have to, but it would be a nice gesture to continue to do.
Bronwyn Feb 17th 2010 2:30PM
I'm disgusted with people's inability to just appreciate this. Seriously. Would you rather they just not donate anything to charity?
Robin Torres Feb 17th 2010 2:31PM
Not only did Blizzard donate the money, they also spent the time and resources on holding this ceremony and giving 15 gamer kids and their families an awesome learning experience. And this is over and above the other things they've done for make-a-wish.
Also, make-a-wish is not the only charity to which they donate.
I am refraining from saying the other things I would like to say.
relmatos Feb 17th 2010 2:47PM
Everyone is forgeting the fact that only 50% of the money went for the charity.
That means that with this "charity work" blizzard made $1.1 million from the pandaren.
what do you think that was? to cover the cost of making it?
If it cost $1.1 million to make a companion, they would have already spent over $161.1 million in the game in companions according to the number of pets available on warcraftpets.com. If that were a real cost, there'd be no companions in the game.
The problem is not the 1.1 million they gave to charity. The problem is that used a charity to profit. If they had donated 100% of the price, then it'd be real charity. Then they'd double the donation, no one would complain. Heck, they'd have more than double the ammount since a lot more people would be willing to give the money if it were for charity.
galestrom Feb 17th 2010 2:50PM
Silly trolls.
You know who you are, and we're very disappointed in you.
Beruza Feb 17th 2010 2:51PM
@ relmatos:
They didn't use the charity for profit! They took half of their profit and gave it to charity! They don't have to donate anything to charity! This is an act of kindness! Not an act of greedy selfishness.
Mixx Feb 17th 2010 2:54PM
As an employee of the Make-A-Wish Foundation I can assure that we are very happy with this donation.
1. Does Blizzard get good press? YES
2. Do they get a tax write off? YES
3. Do sick children get the chance to have their wish come true? YES
I think #3 easily trumps 1 & 2.
Cheers & Thanks Blizzard!
Dan828 Feb 17th 2010 2:54PM
Seriously, think this through. Yes Blizzard made 1.1 million in profit. They could have made 2.2 million in profit, but instead chose to donate half of their profit to make a wish. This is not a bad thing. Even if they get tax breaks for doing so, it's not a bad thing. Even if it was an entirely mercenary, this helps us make money and gives us PR and we get a tax break decision, it still isn't a bad thing.
Money was given to a charity. Sick children got to have fun for a few hours. Things don't have to be entirely altruistic on order for them to help people or be good. The world is not black and white. I give money to charity. I claim it on my taxes. This doesn't make me an asshole.
Vellorita Feb 17th 2010 2:56PM
I think everyone should take a look at Guidinglight's post history.
I recognize him (or possibly her) as a person who frequently offers
their Holier-than-thou opinions in these comments, which are usually overly presumptuous exaggerated. it does not surprise me in the least to see him posting like this here.
He is the antithesis of Knob, who usually plays the asshole on the
comments section.
In short, he is a troll. Don't take anything he says seriously.
Massa Feb 17th 2010 3:02PM
@ relmatos
The thing is, even if they gave 2.2 million (all sales of panda) people would either complain that they didn't give money off of Lil KT, or that the amount was still nothing to ActiBlizzard, or that it was all a publicity stunt.
Blizzard is trying to make a Win-Win-Win-Win situation (they get publicity, a tax benefit, and money; Make a Wish gets money; you get a pet ingame; and kids get to have fun in the midst of a horrible situation). It's stupid trolls that make it a lost situation for ActiBlizzard (no matter what they do Blizzard will never be good enough for you, get over it and stop QQ'ing and keep your nasty cynical comments to yourselves so the rest of us can enjoy these acts of kindness). No wonder people like Drama Mamas over Random acts of Uberness.
@ Robin Torres
I love you.
As a side note. You know why you get a tax benefit for charitable donations--it's so people WILL give to charities. It helps the government help people--as much as you may hate the government, it's a noble act. You get rewarded for doing something kind (what a concept). Now how about the trolls repay kindness with *gasp* kindness. I know it's hard, but I believe in you. :)
jrizutko Feb 17th 2010 3:03PM
Trolls apparently hate the idea that profits have been generated and split with a charitable cause. Clearly if Blizzard really cared no one would take a salary, own stock or make a profit. They would just make video games in order to generate funding for charities...
Themock Feb 17th 2010 3:05PM
That is incredible! Kudos to Blizzard.
I also don't think the claim was ever that the price of the companion was just to cover the cost of development. Yeesh, if people had their way, Blizzard would operate EVERYTHING at a loss, and then where would be their incentive to keep developing and expanding this game?
Lastly, if you pay attention to companies' donating practices, you will find that a 50% donation is HUGE. Most companies donating proceeds to charity will ballpark in around 10%.
relmatos Feb 17th 2010 3:06PM
@beruza
They would never have made 2.2million because they wouldnt have the "feel good" feeling that made people purchase those pets knowing that it'd go to a good cause.
So, no. it was not an act of kindness. An act of kindness is for no reason whatsoever donating a large ammount of money to those in need.
This was just publicity to help players purchase something new. Without this publicity players wouldnt have joined so easily and wouldnt have opened up a precedent for the next companions/whatever that blizzard sells.
You want an act of kindness? Where was blizzard after the haiti earthquake? Why didnt they release a companion donating 50% of the profits then? they didnt. Why not? because they had no need to help others at that moment.
Yes, donating money to a worthy cause is good. Yes, everyone should help whenever they can. Do not, however, forget to open your eyes and see things for what they trully are.
Blizzard had a new, different product to push into the masses and they needed some help. Charity was the way they used to push that new product.