·event MAJOR
PLEX for GOOD - Philippines Typhoon Relief (2013)
Image: CCP Games · (c) CCP Games (used under CCP fan-content policy)
After two and a half years dormant, PLEX for Good returned for Typhoon Haiyan and shattered every prior record - $190,890 to the Red Cross, more than the programme's previous five drives combined, on the back of CCP-issued in-game "Humanitarian" T-shirt rewards.
PLEX for GOOD - Philippines Typhoon Relief (2013)
On 8 November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) made landfall in the central Philippines as one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded - sustained winds estimated above 300 km/h. Storm surges of up to seven metres devastated the city of Tacloban and surrounding Leyte and Samar provinces. The final death toll exceeded 6,300 with over four million displaced.
CCP launched PLEX for GOOD: Philippines Typhoon Relief on 20 November 2013, running through 7 December 2013. Donations were routed to the Icelandic Red Cross for typhoon-relief operations. For each PLEX donated, CCP converted at the standard $15 per PLEX rate and gifted donating players a pair of in-game cosmetic "Humanitarian" T-shirt YC115 items (Sisters of EVE Food Relief branded) - the first time the programme had paired donations with bespoke in-game cosmetic rewards. CCP also ran a charity livestream during the drive.
The drive raised $190,890 - a result that more than matched the combined totals of the 2005 ($25k), 2010 Haiti ($49k), 2010 Pakistan ($39k), 2011 Japan ($45k), and 2011 US Storm Relief ($33k) drives combined ($191k). It would remain the largest single PLEX for Good drive for nearly a decade - until the 2022 Ukraine drive raised $501,652.
Three things drove the result: the disaster's scale and the global media attention it received; the cosmetic-reward incentive (a small but meaningful participation hook); and the fact that the programme had been dormant for two and a half years, which seems to have created pent-up willingness to give. CCP also leaned harder into PR around the drive than for any prior campaign.
For returning players: this is the moment PLEX for Good went from "small recurring goodwill drive" to "programme that mattered". Subsequent drives all looked back to the Haiyan template - clear charity partner, clear donation window, optional cosmetic incentive, public post-drive donation ceremony.