For many of us, gaming is an escape from the stresses of day to day life. Whether you need to fight a dragon, build a village, or just collect fruit from trees in your island paradise. We enjoy leaving our world behind for these virtual lands for many reasons – they can be more exciting, more relaxing, or even just more rewarding for the work we put in. In our world, not all work is measured equal, and sometimes the most selfless acts can go unnoticed. Sometimes, those who dedicate their entire work to helping others have less access to the magical worlds of gaming which we need to unwind. That’s why IGN has teamed up with EE to reward a few deserving gamers with a crate full of gaming loot, courtesy of the EE Game Store. This is Supply Drop, the round up!
Rahul
Our first stop was with London-based psychological wellbeing practitioner, Rahul. Described as empathetic and outgoing by his own mum, Rahul’s therapeutic responsibilities with multiple people each day means switching off his natural charm in order to listen and respond to the needs of others. His mother knew that this would be a natural fit for someone so caring but, as mothers do, she worries about her son’s own health. For Rahul, gaming is both important alone time getting swept up in the latest Zelda adventure, as well as social time with his friends where he gets to let loose and just be himself. So that he can embark on even more fantasy quests, we decided to upgrade his gaming setup and throw in some blockbuster titles too.
Daniel
Next, we met up with Daniel, a volunteer manager for an LGBT+ mental health charity. Daniel supports people dealing with the challenges of self acceptance through his work, and is constantly there for his friends even when they’re countries apart. He’s passionate about helping those having a hard time, whether they’re close to him or only just working how they fit into the world. Among all of this, he still manages to platinum some of the largest and most difficult games of recent years, like Elden Ring. Gaming is also a way for him to stay in touch with his friends around the world and Daniel’s friend, Maxime, mentioned to us that they actually bonded over Mario Kart in Germany. Thanks to Maxime, we were inspired to increase the ways in which Daniel can play and connect with his friends no matter where he is.
Tadgh
Our third stop took us all the way to Northern Ireland, outside of Belfast, where we were greeted by not one, but two deserving gamers. Tadgh is a special education needs worker, supporting students one on one in the classroom environment. Their skills with kids and young adults come out not just in work, but also with their younger brother Oisín who actually goes to the same school Tadgh works at. Despite Oisín being half Tadgh’s age (the PS4 they play on actually being older than him) the pair are inseparable to the point of being able to overcome the ridiculously challenging foes of Cuphead together with ease. Oisín has always had Tadgh in his life, whether Tadgh was showing him the basics of Overwatch or he was teaching Tadgh about every species of dinosaur. Tadgh is planning to move away from home soon, and we couldn’t have a send off without giving them the means to still play together.
Adeola
Finally, our Supply Drop crew hopped back to the mainland to Birmingham to surprise Adeola. Ade previously worked in safeguarding, helping disabled people with their welfare and finances, and just moved into a new role in social housing where she acquires properties to be turned into affordable housing, both in her local area. When she isn’t working hard to help the local community, Ade connects with her online community through streaming as The Modern Alchemist. Gaming has allowed Ade to find friends and community integral to her life, connecting her to others since she began streaming in her uni common room. She’s always meeting new people through her streams or discovering that her workplace is a Gym in Pokémon Go, because sometimes you need to catch some cute critters on your lunch break. So that she can continue spreading the joy locally through work and to the world online, we wanted to give her stream kit the ultimate upgrade.
We want to express our gratitude to Rahul, Daniel, Tadgh (and Oisín), and Ade for all their hard work, and to all the gamers out there doing their part to make the world a better place. We hope that gaming continues to help you unwind, connect with loved ones, and have adventures for yourself. Thank you to EE for letting us celebrate some of these deserving players and for providing their Supply Drops through the EE Game Store. Whether you received your own Supply Drop this time or not, why not treat yourself or someone deserving in your life to some gaming goodies?
