Yogscast raises $2.5m in festive charity drive

Video media firm Yogscast has raised a $2.57m for UK charities in its latest Christmas fundraising drive.

Yogscast's JingleJam has been running for four years and has now raised a combined $6m. This year's effort was a record-breaker and was boosted by festive t-shirts and an album written live on Twitch be entertainers Hat Films (which went on to become the top-selling album on Bandcamp).

But the biggest fundraising area was via the Yogscast Humble Bundle collection, which was backed by more than 50 developers and publishers. Games including Binary Domain, Guild Wars 2, Goat Simulator, Psychonauts, Chivalry, Torchlight 2, Hue, She, Rocket Riots, Magicka 2, Gunpoint, Neverwinter, Robocraft and a lot more. Yogscast estimated that the bundle was worth $650 but cost just $30.

The firm raised $284,000 in its first day and then $1m by the end of the first week. In total there was 86,578 donations.

Pre-selected charities included GamesAid, Special Effect, ILGA, Cancer Research UK, Mental Health Foundation and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Donors could also choose another charity out of over 3,000 global causes.

"It's been an amazing and humbling experience," said Yogscast CEO Mark Turpin. "We understood that we had a fantastic bundle and a great line-up of entertainers throughout the month but we never dared to dream that we would raise so much for such fantastic causes."

Yogscast co-founder Lewis Brindley added: "There has been immense outpouring of generosity from the whole community, and I want to give a massive thanks to everyone who made this possible."