[Update: Child's Play project manager Jamie Dillion further clarifies why the campaign was shutdown and it wasn't because gamers were misinformed about where the money was going.]
If you've been keeping track of all the Mass Effect 3 ending drama, then you might have come across the news that a group was using Child's Play to raise money for the charity in order to convince BioWare to change the ending for Mass Effect 3. The name of the initiative was called "Retake Mass Effect 3".
After more than $80,000 raised in charity, Penny Arcade, the founders of Child's Play, have announced that they have brought the fundraiser to an end due to a lot of people not realizing that the money wasn't going directly to BioWare.
Genius Gamers reports that the whole thing came crashing down due to a lot of people just not being informed enough about what Retake Mass Effect 3 was all about.
The fundraiser's organizer, Robb, shared a message to the community about the results of the drive, and according to VG 24/7, he had this to say...
“As evidenced by the statement from Dr. Myzuka yesterday, we have made our voices heard. Those of you here have taken special care to be heard in a polite, positive manner, and I believe that this is a major contributor to that success. We have shown our sincerity and passion. We have brought positive attention to the Retake Mass Effect movement.”“I have been in contact with a manager at Child’s Play. First, he wanted to stress how grateful they were for our efforts here, and the huge impact it will have in helping the charity. However, he pointed out that several sources are incorrectly assuming a link between the charity and the petition, or outright support of the petition by the charity.“This has been a source of difficulty for them, and it has been requested that we wind this effort down. Again, I want to stress that the charity is not unhappy with our work, they are exceptionally pleased with what we have accomplished.”
The thing is, a lot of people were contacting the Child's Play group to find out how much was needed to change the Mass Effect 3 ending, or what it would cost to get the ending altered, etc., etc. Child's Play has had no direct dealing with getting Mass Effect 3's ending changed. It was just an indirect outlet used to raise money, which in turn was used to raise awareness to BioWare in order to get the ending changed.
It is true that Dr. Myzuka did respond to the community about changing the Mass Effect 3 ending. So the $80,000 certainly wasn't in vain.
VG 24/7 further reports that project manager Jamie Dillion took to Reddit to issue the following statement to quell some of the negative backlash about ending the fundraiser, saying...
“While we did receive some negative mail regarding the drive, I can assure you our decision was not about bowing to pressure from anyone- corporate, individual, or otherwise,”“The real concern on our end was the slippery slope that attaching causes to fundraising for Child’s Play can create. While RME had the best of intentions and was overwhelmingly generous, it shed light on an issue that we needed to address. It pointed out a dangerous precedent for others to use the charity for agendas we clearly do not support.“We’re taking a step back and looking at our policies to see what we can do to still appreciate and support the community while avoiding implications of Child’s Play being attached to other causes.”
Well, in the end at least gamers are going to get what they wanted, a bunch of kids were able to get what they wanted, and the Child's Play organization definitely got what they wanted. And I'm sure if the new Mass Effect 3 ending is paid-for DLC, EA will definitely get what they want. So everyone wins.
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