The second annual C.O.D.E. Bowl raised nearly $1 million for the Call of Duty Endowment charity, a non-profit organization with the goal of placing veterans in high-quality jobs on returning to civilian life. This year’s C.O.D.E. Bowl saw eight teams made up of members of different military branches from the US and UK competing in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War. The crown was taken by the United States Space Force team, who triumphed over the Royale Air Force in the C.O.D.E. Bowl finals, but perhaps more important than who won is the money raised for CODE’s charitable efforts.
The C.O.D.E. Bowl is an event to bring awareness to the Call of Duty Endowment and fundraise for its charitable mission of helping veterans. Last year’s C.O.D.E. Bowl brought some of the top Call of Duty streamers, content creators, and personalities together with members of the US Army esports team. This year’s event, which was held on Friday, December 11th, tapped into a wider selection of service members from various military branches, managing to more than double last year’s fundraising efforts with more than $900k raised.
Activision attributes the significant increase in participation to a growing number of service members who use video games to connect with people and find joy during their service. During the event on Friday, U.S. Air Force Team Captain Capt Isaac “Icemanisaac” Hamilton said “Gaming has been what allows us to stay connected. It’s what’s allowed us to get out of dark times. It’s allowed us to network and make friendships,” going on to say that’s why a growing number of military service branches now have dedicated esports and gaming teams.
The success and growth of the event almost assuredly cements another C.O.D.E. Bowl next year, though the Call of Duty Endowment’s fundraising efforts don’t only come around once a year. The non-profit has various methods of fundraising throughout the year, often with in-game packs that see proceeds going to the charity, even crossing over to other non-Call of Duty Activision titles.
The Call of Duty Endowment has grown rapidly year of year, with reports early this year indicating that 2019 had been its biggest year yet. We’re still waiting on official 2020 numbers, but it looks pretty good that this year could even surpass that.
[Source: Activision]
