Bungie and Destiny 2 fans raise nearly $800,000 for COVID-19 relief in a month

Bungie and the Destiny 2 community raised nearly $800,000 for COVID-19 relief funds as part of the studio's month-long Guardian's Heart charity initiative. 

The event started on April 13 and ended earlier this week on May 12. During that time, Destiny 2 players pitched in $788,823, well over the initiative's $700,000 goal. All proceeds went to Direct Relief, a global, multi-cause humanitarian aid organization which has been supporting first-line responders and caretakers throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Guardian's Heart is over, but you can still support Direct Relief through a regular donation. More information is available on the group's website.

To spice up the event, Bungie issued a special Destiny 2 emblem to donors, and it held dozens of Bungie Bounties over the past month - community events where standout players or Destiny 2 developers are marked for competition and hunted down in modes like Crucible and Gambit.

"We’d like to thank everyone who donated, and everyone who volunteered their time to help spread the word by streaming in one of the 39 Bungie Bounties that we put on during the event," the studio said in a blog post. "It’s been inspiring to watch this community come together once again to make the world a little better during a tough time." 

This is the latest addition to the growing list of ways that the game industry is helping coronavirus relief efforts. Meanwhile, over on the gameplay side of Destiny 2, Bungie just detailed its plans for the game's new Power system which will totally change the loot economy.