The next time you spend money in GTA Online’s Diamond casino, you can feel good about it. Rockstar Games said it will donate 5% of revenue for GTA Online and Red Dead Online for the next month to fight the coronavirus.
Rockstar said that “community is at the center of everything we do.” It added, “As our teams navigate these difficult times, we see our local communities across North America, the United Kingdom, India, and beyond being deeply affected.”
So starting April 1, and through the end of May, Rockstar said 5% of revenue from purchases inside the online games will be donated to COVID-19 relief efforts. The New York-based company said it would share more info about those donations over time.
Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimated that the donations could amount to $2 million a month. But since Rockstar doesn’t disclose its exact revenues by month or even by quarter, from individual games, it’s hard to calculate.
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Here’s the full statement in a tweet:
Rockstar Games and COVID-19 Relief pic.twitter.com/9j6NrtcrFN
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) April 1, 2020
Parent company Take-Two Interactive has said that Rockstar’s 2018 hit Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold more than 35 million copies, while Grand Theft Auto V has shipped more than 115 million copies.
Many of those players have also played the online versions of the games, GTA Online and Red Dead Online, where players can pay real money for virtual goods, such as money spent inside the Diamond Casino & Resort in GTA Online.
That means the potential donation from the purchases could amount to a lot of money.
Take-Two also announced that 2K, Private Division, and Social Point team are also donating 5% of proceeds in April.
[Updated at 9:58 a.m. on 4/1 with Take-Two information]
