Quick update: after selling out last week, we’ve decided to add 8 more team passes to this year’s Halo tournament!

Team passes can be purchased through our friends at LANFest. See here.

For those who’ve asked about the event network since last year’s tournament, you can see the full results of our recent test here.

We look forward to seeing you all on April 1st and 2nd at the EMU Convocation Center!

During this year’s Gamers for Giving, we’ll be joined by a number of streamers (both online and on site) from the video game industry who have volunteered their time to make a difference for kids in hospitals! Throughout the weekend, each of these streamers will host broadcasts for their respective communities to help us conquer the $200K fundraising goal!

In addition to the streamers involved, we’ll also be producing our own stream on the Gamers Outreach Twitch channel. On that broadcast, we’ll be keeping you posted of the weekend’s festivities, and tracking the progress of our streaming partners as we work to build GO Karts for hospitalized children!

On that note, we’re excited to welcome another broadcaster to Gamers for Giving!

Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and internet phenom Coty “ImCoty” Heim will be joining us at Gamers for Giving 2017 as part of our stream team!

A member of the Astro Gaming stream team, Coty has been producing his own videos and internet content for the past 7 years. Coty also attended last year’s Gamers for Giving, where he was able to raise enough funds to construct a GO Kart, currently awaiting delivery in our first batch of new units! We’re excited to welcome him to this year’s event as part of our stream team, and look forward to catching his broadcast!

Coty will be streaming in support of the cause from his Twitch channel at http://www.twitch.tv/imcoty. Be sure to give him some love on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook!

We’ll see you on April 1st and 2nd at Gamers for Giving 2017!

During this year’s Gamers for Giving, we’ll be joined by a number of streamers (both online and on site) from the video game industry who have volunteered their time to make a difference for kids in hospitals! Throughout the weekend, each of these streamers will host broadcasts for their respective communities to help us conquer the $200K fundraising goal!

In addition to the streamers involved, we’ll also be producing our own stream on the Gamers Outreach Twitch channel. On that broadcast, we’ll be keeping you posted of the weekend’s festivities, and tracking the progress of our streaming partners as we work to build GO Karts for hospitalized children!

With that said, we’re excited to introduce our first streamer!

Midwest native and super awesome cosplayer “LadyDevann” will be joining us as part of our stream team at Gamers for Giving 2017!

Aside from being one of coolest costume crafters around, Devann is a full-time partnered Twitch streamer with sponsorships from the likes of SteelSeries, Origin PC, and Gunnar Optiks. You can regularly find her broadcasting over at http://www.twitch.tv/LadyDevann. She also really likes dinosaurs.

This will be Devann’s second time attending Gamers for Giving, and we’re excited to have her with us as part of the crew! If you’re at the event, be sure to say hello, and give her a follow on Twitter and Twitch!

We’ll see you on April 1st & 2nd at the EMU Convocation Center!

At this year’s Gamers for Giving, we’re raising $200,000 to help build GO Karts for kids in hospitals. Please consider supporting our efforts by making a donation here.

Gamers Outreach is a charity that provides recreation to children in hospitals through the power of video games and the gaming community. As an organization, our intent is to help inspire and heal patients through interactive play. For nearly a decade, we’ve been visiting healthcare facilities across the U.S., working to ensure games and technology are accessible for patients, and manageable for healthcare professionals.

Hospitalization can often be a lonely, isolating, and scary experience – especially for young people. We’ve seen it firsthand, and we’re doing everything we can to ease those burdens.

Image credit: Tim Seppala, Engadget

We’ve become most known for constructing these things called “GO Karts” (Gamers Outreach Karts). GO Karts are portable, medical-grade video game kiosks deployed inside hospitals. Each cart is equipped with a gaming console, monitor, and assortment of games. The kiosks are mobile and fully secure, enabling medical staff to easily provide children with access to bedside activities.

Last year, we set a $100,000 fundraising goal in an effort to construct more GO Kart for hospitals nationwide. We ended up nearly doubling our intended goal, and raised more than $172,000.

Due to the success of the event, we decided to make a few investments that helped us scale the GO Kart initiative. As we’ve documented in multiple blog posts throughout the past year, we’ve been able to improve the manufacturing process, and as a by-product, build a whole bunch of new GO Karts, way more efficiently. In our first batch (currently being rolled out to hospitals) we’re delivering as many GO Karts as we’ve built in the entire program’s existence. This was all made possible with the help of you – our fellow gamers.

Now – we’re ready to go full throttle. Hospitals are actively seeking durable, reliable tools to easily manage interactive technology, and GO Karts are a proven solution for supporting patients.

Within a year, our hope is to construct at least 1 GO Kart for every U.S. children’s hospital. This can only be done with the support of the gaming community, and we’re kicking it off at Gamers for Giving 2017.

At this year’s event, we’re chasing down a $200,000 fundraising goal. This will be the largest amount we’ve ever raised in a single weekend, and will help give us the boost we need in 2017 to move forward on building our second batch of next-gen GO Karts for an array of hospitals that we’ve yet to support.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Fundraise: We recently built our own fundraising platform which allows gamers to stream in support of Gamers Outreach programs! You can start a general fundraiser, or even rally your community to construct GO Karts for a hospital of your preference. Not a streamer? No sweat! You can still use the platform to reach out to friends, family, or colleagues in support of the big weekend’s goal! Create your first fundraising campaign here. Need artwork for your stream? Download our logo and Twitch banners here.
• Donate: Any amount helps! Donations can be made on the front page of the Gamers for Giving website, or by visiting www.GamersOutreach.org/donate.
• Watch: Gamers Outreach will be streamed live all weekend on our Twitch channel, and with help from a variety of streamers in the gaming community. Be sure to check out our Stream page for all the details!
• Spread the Word: Unable to make a donation, but still want to be involved? Help spread Gamers for Giving hype on social media! You can use the hashtag #GFG2017 to help promote this year’s event and encourage friends to get involved.

Whether you’re streaming from home, or joining us at the EMU Convocation Center, we look forward to having you be a part of this year’s efforts! We’ll see you on April 1st & 2nd!

When it comes to running gaming tournaments, ensuring your event has sufficient power is kinda important. For a LAN party of our size, locking down the right equipment can also get kinda expensive!

That’s why we’re excited to announce Michigan CAT has stepped forward with plans to BRING THE JUICE! Electricity, that is.

The folks from Michigan CAT have been gracious enough to donate a large quantity of materials and resources to make sure this year’s event has adequate hardware to keep your high-wattage power supplies humming with ease.

While this is more a “behind-the-scenes” sponsorship, powering the event is obviously very important! Thanks to Michigan CAT’s help, we’ve been able to off-set a large number of costs normally associated with hosting the Gamers for Giving LAN party.

Please note: this doesn’t change our 2 outlet rule (see here).  Individuals participating in the BYOC LAN are limited to 2 electrical outlets per seat. We carefully distribute the electricity throughout the venue to ensure everyone has adequate power for their equipment. Daisy chaining power strips or exceeding the use of 2 outlets per seat in any way is STRICTLY prohibited!

We’re excited to have Michigan CAT’s support, and hope this is the start of a longstanding relationship!

We look forward to seeing you all on April 1 & 2 at the EMU Convocation Center!

One of the best parts about Gamers for Giving is the fact that, for nearly two days straight, our community is dedicated to doing what we love most – GAMING!

Long hours of play have always defined the event experience, and we all know the importance of staying focused during heated competition. That’s why this year, we’re excited to welcome a new partner that will help keep everyone fragging… 5-Hour ENERGY!

5-hour ENERGY is a liquid energy shot that can help you feel energized and alert for hours. It contains a special blend of essential B-vitamins, amino acids, and nutrients – all with zero sugar or herbal stimulants and four calories.

5-hour ENERGY will be fueling Gamers for Giving attendees throughout the course of the weekend, and some of their pro gamers from the Detroit Renegades plan to attend! Be sure to stop by their booth during the event to try out the product, and say hello to their players!

You can show 5-hour ENERGY some love by following them on Twitter, or becoming a fan on Facebook.

We look forward to seeing you on April 1st and 2nd at the EMU Convocation Center!

Quick update for those of you who plan to compete in tournaments at Gamers for Giving: all settings & respective prize pools have been posted! You can see the full details for each game listed on the Tournaments page.

If you have feedback, comments, or suggestions on any of the formats, let us know! We want to make sure we’re hosting a great competitive experience, and welcome any tips that can help improve the events.

Some reminders / updates:

• Our Call of Duty team passes grant entry into both the Modern Warfare Remastered tournament and the Infinite Warfare tournament. Participating in both is entirely optional. Passes can be purchased here.
• Our IT crew visited the EMU Convocation Center a couple weeks back and ran extensive tests with Halo. All systems worked as intended. See the full results here. Passes can be purchased here.
• StarCraft will now have a cash prize pool, thanks to a sponsorship from Wintergaming. We also plan to provide a sponsored hardware prize to the 1st place competitor.
• Our PC tournaments are open to all LAN attendees. We will be collecting information for your respective event after you check into the LAN.
• Similar to the bullet above, we will be collecting team information for all console players at the event. Individuals who purchased the team pass will be responsible for claiming credentials at the event.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on April 1 & 2 at Gamers for Giving 2017!

In partnership with Design By Humans, we’re excited to release our Gamers for Giving 2017 tee shirts! Available for a limited time, these shirts can be ordered directly through the Gamers Outreach merch store, just in time for this year’s big event! If you’d like to rep the cause, or just want a bit of memorabilia from this year’s gaming marathon, head on over and grab a tee!

Edit: Hoodies and tanks are also available! Simply select “Tank Tops” or “Sweatshirts” from the navigation menu on the product page.

Merchandise can be purchased here.

We hope to see you rocking our new threads on April 1st and 2nd at the EMU Convocation Center!

That special time of year is quickly approaching – Gamers for Giving 2017 is just under 4 weeks away!!

While LAN seats are entirely sold out, passes still remain for those who wish to compete in our console tournaments for Halo, Call of Duty, and Super Smash Bros Melee. All tickets are sold through our friends at LANFest, and can be purchased here.

Our team is busy working behind-the-scenes to ensure this year’s event is an incredible experience for everyone – those attending in person, and those watching online.

Between now and the big weekend, we’ll be rolling out a number of announcements related to our fundraising plans, special guests, and how you can support the cause! Be sure to check the Gamers for Giving website frequently, as we’ll be publishing multiple blog posts per week leading up to the event.

We look forward to seeing you on April 1st & 2nd at the EMU Convocation Center!

Last week, our IT crew stopped by the EMU Convocation Center to conduct a series of pre-event network tests, assessing the stability of our equipment and configurations.

Given last year’s anomaly, our team spent a bit of extra time with Halo, playing through multiple custom games to ensure the title was/is fully compatible with Eastern’s ISP. We’re happy to report all in-game multiplayer functionalities, including custom games, functioned properly – as evident in the video below.

We look forward to supporting the Halo community at this year’s Gamers for Giving, and hope you’ll join us on April 1 & 2 at the EMU Convocation Center!