AACC’s ESports Club raised $1,725 for Johns Hopkins Children’s Center during a 24-hour gaming event that took place Saturday through Sunday. 

The once-a-semester event, Extra Life, is a live-streamed gaming marathon that raises money for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. The club raised $2,076 during the same event in the spring semester. 

Although the club raised less money than it did in the spring, ESports Club President Joie Frank said it was important that the club still held the event. 

“While we can’t do it in person because of the risks with COVID, Johns Hopkins needs money more than ever,” Frank, a third-year undeclared student, explained. “We’re …  help[ing] raise money for them.” 

The club traditionally has gotten together on campus to play games during the marathons. 

Conway Johnson, an AACC alum who helped organize the event and hosted the livestream, said the event was also important for the club from a social aspect. 

“This event has always been something that for our community was something everyone can get together and hang out and have a good time, even if you … focused on different games competitively,” he explained. “It was kind of our big social event … and considering that with the coronavirus and other club meetings canceled … we haven’t been able to really have social events at all” this semester.   

Although the Esports Club is still affiliated with the college, Johnson said the club hosted the event independently.  

“We’ve had increasingly more problems with getting events through the [Office of Student Engagement] bureaucracy,” Johnson, a Esports Club consultant and former club president, explained. During the last “two semesters … we were waiting to hear back from Student [Engagement] until … literally the night before the event. There were things we never even heard back on that were important and since we didn’t hear back on them, we’re just like ‘You know what? We’re gonna do it anyways.’”  

Johnson hosted the livestream from his house for the full 24 hours, as approximately 20 club members played games like Risk of Rain 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, a popular multiplayer game for teams of players. 

Johnson said the livestream had average of 19 viewers at any given time, with a total of 577 live views.  

Some club members said they were not surprised that the team did not best its spring donations. 

“One of the reasons we had such a good stream was because that [event occurred] right when quarantine started,” Tom Clark, a third-year computer science student, said. “There was a lot of people who were …  stuck at home who haven’t a lot to do and … [said], ‘Let’s join this.’ People still are in quarantine [but] at this point … people are going to work [and are] out doing that kind of thing.”  

Still, some club members said they enjoyed the event. 

“I was really glad get the chance to participate in these streams and help raise money for charity,” Noel Doney, a second-year game design transfer student, said. “I think it’s a really great idea and it gives people an enjoyable and productive way to spend their Saturday evening.”