Gamers shower Project Hope charity with donations

Project Hope, a children’s education charity, expressed its gratitude to 90,000 players of the popular Chinese-made game Genshin Impact on social media earlier this month after receiving surprise donations of 2.4 million yuan ($344,500) in just five days.

The donations were inspired by a teaser promoting a new character in the game called Dehya.

In the plot, the desert warrior donates her savings to orphans and names her fund, “The Wall of Hope”.

When it comes to philanthropy, Project Hope comes to the minds of many Chinese people, who closely associate the charity with its now classic poster of a girl named Su Mingjuan. Su, who comes from an impoverished background, was able to obtain higher education thanks to the charity.

The similarity between the names “Project Hope” and “The Wall of Hope” explains why gamers chose to donate to the charity. Donations arrived in amounts of 6.8 yuan, 30 yuan and 648 yuan, figures which corresponded to the price of virtual commodities available for sale in the game.

Project Hope posted on its official WeChat account that it was “dazzled by the three numbers, and they are full of our dreams”.

“We will give feedback on the funding situation as soon as possible,” it added.

The charity’s message of gratitude has continued to generate donations, including from people who do not play Genshin Impact.

One Weibo user named “Shishanxia” donated 64.8 yuan to Project Hope on March 2.

“I’m pleased and proud to join the donators. We are all Dehyas,” she said.

On Genshin Impact’s official YouTube channel, the character teaser has received 1.38 million views so far.

“This is amazing! I’m so happy for the children,” a netizen wrote after hearing of the charitable act.

“You have shown us strength, love and dedication, and we will move forward with that. We believe that the power of love will make you shine even brighter,” Project Hope wrote to gamers.

While the spontaneous campaign was unexpected, the game’s Shanghai-based developer miHoYo has eyed educational aid programs for years.

In 2021, together with the China Youth Development Foundation — with which it first created Project Hope in 1989 — miHoYo launched an educational assistance project. The first phase was implemented at Tongzi primary school, a rural school in Yanjin county, Yunnan province, where school facilities were upgraded, students were given new uniforms and teachers received regular training.

China’s game industry is growing rapidly. Sales revenues totaled 265.8 billion yuan last year, and according to the 2022 China Gaming

Industry Report released in February, there are 664 million gamers in the country.

The industry’s rapid development has been widely felt, and Dehya’s influence as a role model has had an impact on the public.

Moreover, in recent years, the technological achievements of the game industry have been applied to other sectors, including medical treatment and sports, and have contributed to scientific and technological innovation.

“China’s game industry is a strong cultural industry. Developers are more aware of their social responsibility to produce highquality games that have a positive influence on younger generations,” said Chen Shaofeng, a professor studying cultural industries at Peking University.