I understand why people are happy when video game companies and their managers donate millions to a promotion, as they recently did. Large numbers make for interesting articles. "They do their part!" We tell ourselves, we are happy to see the independent citizens where governments have always failed. Even so, none of us will ever make that kind of money in our lives. But is that the best they can do?
CD Projekt founder and CEO Marcin Iwiński is a billionaire. He owns 12,150,000 shares of the company he helped establish in 1994, its stock is now worth 368 złoty Polish (PLN). This makes Iwiński's value more important (based on his stake in CD Projekt alone) at about 4.4 billion PLN, or more than $ 1 billion USD. Last month, Iwiński announced that he and other members of the company's board somehow combined $ 2 million PLN (about $ 477,000 USD) of their own money to "counter the covid-19 expansion in Poland," where CD Projekt is found.
I'm not saying that anyone should give up this kind of money, especially in desperate times like this, but this amounts to a huge amount compared to the wealth that Iwiński collected employees who makes part of his income. Even if he had received the full amount himself instead of going through the entire CD Projekt, that would have been just .04% of his total.
You will find this situation throughout the gaming industry. ZeniMax Media, a major merger with announcers such as Bethesda Softworks, id Software, and Arkane Studios, announced today that it plans to donate $ 1 million more than a few charitable organizations. While it is difficult to measure ZeniMax's revenue, because that information is private, investors value the company for $ 2.5 billion in 2016, and regularly receives trillions of dollars in venture capital from private equity firms such as Providence Equity Partners.
At the time, Ubisoft reported to make more than $ 2 billion USD USD in the 2018/2019 financial year, but announced in March that it will donate $ 150,000 USD to the covid-19 World Health Organization charity fund. CEO Yves Guillemot rakes in annual compensation about $ 2 million alone.
G / O Media may receive a commission
Last month also saw Riot games promises $ 1.5 million in relief of the Los Angeles area. Riot is owned by Chinese megacorporation Tencent, whose total revenue for 2019 was amazing $ 15 billion. League of Legends alone brought a billion dollars and that. Riot co-founders and chairman Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill are compensated hawell, some estimates say they do $ 10 million every year. And they both have one previously purchased homes often call what the company offers to help those in need.
The covid-19 epidemic is a serious problem that many of us have seen in our lives. The numbers of infections continue to rise, coronavirus-related deaths are more frequent, and millions have found themselves out of cash. It is natural to look for stocks that look good in a time of need, no matter what the source. But figures show that the latest small donations from big video game companies are in the grand scheme of things. When the condition is so bad that the remains are worth celebrating, it is far more deadly than I thought.
