Call of Duty hosts a virtual race for its veterans charity

'Veteruns' campaign from Gut Los Angeles turns running within the game itself into donations for the Call of Duty Endowment

Published On
May 27, 2022

Editor's Pick

Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, Call of Duty will honor veterans with a special in-game event to generate money for its in-house non-profit.

The Call of Duty Endowment, which helps place veterans in the job market, is celebrating the milestone of 100,000 successful cases. In tandem with the holiday weekend, the Activision Blizzard video game will host “Veteruns” within Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific through June 3.

The event, created with agency Gut Los Angeles, is a virtual 100 kilometer fun run where players will earn prizes and contribute toward a $1 million donation from the tech company to the Call of Duty Endowment. The company is pledging $1 per 10 kilometers run by each player (up to $10 per player). To gamify the charitable event, players will earn badges from bronze to gold in increasing rarity based on the distance their character runs and will have the chance to score on a game-wide leaderboard for the longest distance run during the event. 

The campaign also features an extension on Twitter, where players can receive a personalized report card of their performance in the event. By tweeting at the game’s official account with their Activision ID and “#CODVeteruns100k,” users will receive stats with the distance they’ve virtually run and how much donation money was generated through their participation.

“We always look to engage our players in new ways, and working with the Endowment allows us to give our fans the opportunity to do something that is both fun and impactful,” said Fernando Machado, chief marketing officer of Activision Blizzard, in a statement. “This is an event we are all excited for, and we can’t wait to see the enthusiasm in the community as they race to hit the top of the leaderboards for a great cause.”