For years, gamers have been stereotyped as solitary figures hunched in dark rooms isolating themselves through escape into virtual realms.

However, this image couldn’t be further from the truth. Far from being isolated, modern gamers have found power in their community and are using it as a force for good. Gaming has never been more philanthropic, with players across the world using their skills and online platforms to raise staggering amounts of money through livestreams and local events.

This charitable and community-based model of gaming was put on display this month at Kinnick Stadium.

The stadium, usually home to the Hawkeye football team, swapped foam fingers for flat-screen TVs as gamers from all over the state gathered for the Extra Life Charity Challenge: College Football 25 to raise $61,900 for the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Extra Life, the host of the tournament, is a fundraising program that uses games and gaming to raise money for hospitals across the nation. Since it was established in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $120 million.

Tyler Adams, who helped organize the event, said the organization took inspiration from the UI’s proud football culture when choosing the tournament’s game — EA Sports College Football 25.

“We’ve never [hosted events] here in Iowa, so we thought, what unique thing can we bring to Iowa? And college football is the big one,” Adams said.

College Football 25 is the first college football game since 2013, so the turnout of fans at the Kinnick event reflected the general anticipation for the game. It’s the highest-grossing video game of 2024, selling 5 million copies within its first month in the market.

The gaming audience has skyrocketed in size, as the sales reflect. With this large number of fans though, comes an increase in the community’s efforts to give back.

“Gamers are just so generous,” Adams said. “You see some of these personalities on Twitch and YouTube, and they just care so much. They’re the most, dedicated, fired up, energetic people, and they just want to help local kids, just like the rest of us do.”

This dedication was on full display at Kinnick as gamers picked up their controllers to begin the tournament. Participants had to raise a minimum of $200 to qualify for the single-elimination, bracket-style event.

The event began at 10 a.m., and the stadium was alive with nervous energy as 64 determined gamers gripped their controllers, white-knuckled in anticipation for the first round to begin.

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Throughout the six rounds of competition, Herky the Hawk flitted through the crowd, cheering participants on and riling up the spectators. Iowa football players Leshon Williams, Jacob Gill, and Brendan Sullivan also made appearances, waving and mingling with the crowd.

Participant Micah Garringer is a frequent esports competitor and traveled from Marshalltown, Iowa to compete. Although he was eliminated in the morning rounds, his team raised $450, keeping him in good spirits.

“We had some real stuff competition this morning, but I’m not worried about it. I’m really just here to have a good time and learn some stuff,” said Garringer.

For other participants, this tournament was more than just a competition — it was a way to support a cause that hits close to home. Cole Corson shared that his family uses the Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

“My daughter has had stuff done at the Children’s Hospital, and so I thought it was a great fit for me to support something that I have first-hand experience with,” Corson said.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the fierce competitors were gradually eliminated, relinquishing their controllers and joining the throng of eager spectators. By mid-afternoon, only two skilled gamers were left: Brandon Capper and Herve Cantrell. The air crackled with anticipation as they took their seats for the final showdown, which was broadcast live on Hawk Vision.

Though Capper and Cantrell fiercely battled for every pixelated pass and perfectly timed tackle, the crowd went wild as Cantrell ultimately seized the win, securing his place as champion.

The Extra Life Charity Challenge is one of many events around the county where gamers are stepping up for a good cause, but the gaming community’s impact is even more amplified online.

Livestreaming platforms like Twitch and Kick have helped facilitate global connectivity in the gaming community by allowing millions of people to congregate virtually and participate in one shared gaming experience.

Influencers in the gaming world and on social media have been quick to use this for a good cause, fundraising by soliciting donations as they stream.

Their fundraising methods range from wildly unconventional — such as popular gaming streamer Ludwig Ahgren, who spent 50 hours locked in a small glass box to raise money for the Alveus Sanctuary — to more traditional, like streaming themselves gaming or chatting with viewers.

Either way, these efforts can be largely successful, with popular streams raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in minutes.

Ahgren’s glass box stream raised $315,000, half of which he donated. Last October, popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker raised over $1 million for humanitarian aid to Palestine, with $180,000 raised in the first 40 minutes of his stream.

“It’s really cool,” Adams said. “They take what they’re really good at, which is their gaming, their content creation, whatever it is, and they use it for an avenue to do some good.”

Twitch has encouraged these charitable efforts by establishing tools within its platform to help creators raise money effectively and transparently and to help viewers donate quickly and with ease.

Gaming charity streams have influenced broader philanthropic endeavors within the video game industry. Riot Games, a major developer of hits like those of  “Valorant” and “League of Legends”. Their games are the source of millions of dollars in revenue from esports events.

Thanks to the popularity of charity streams on gaming platforms, Riot Games established a Social Impact Fund that supports nonprofits around the world.

Whether online or in-person, players globally are redefining what philanthropy and activism looks like by challenging traditional fundraising models and making charity more accessible and engaging for younger generations.

“I had donated to local GoFundMe [pages] and things like that in the past, but I watched [Hasan’s] stream and so did a lot of my friends,” 22-year-old UI student Lauren Bredeson, said. “I think that it was one of the first times that I saw people in my generation widely, fiscally contributing to charities, rather than just, like, reposting links and I thought that that was really sweet.”