JDRF Game2Give is our partnership with video game players, streamers, and developers to raise money to fight type 1 diabetes (T1D). Since 2019, we have brought together hundreds of people affected by T1D who love video games and have mobilized this community to fundraise for crucial research toward cures.

Why video games? First, because a lot of people in the diabetes community play them! Sharing this hobby is a natural way for people who have T1D connections to meet and support each other.

Second, because the multibillion-dollar video game industry is larger than nearly every other form of entertainment (including movies and music), and game-related fundraising has taken off in a big way.

At JDRF, we’re already making an impact! The JDRF Game2Give initiative has raised more than two million dollars since our first fundraising events in November 2019. We use platforms like Twitch to host streaming events and Humble Bundle to raise money through video game sales—and we’re reaching new audiences every day.

Latest JDRF Game2Give news:

• Healthline: Diabetes Hits the Video Gaming and Music Livestreaming World
• JDRF: JDRF Partners with Insulet to Provide Type 1 Diabetes Representation in Animal Crossing™: New Horizons
• Nintendo Life: This Animal Crossing Island Exists to Raise Diabetes Awareness
• VentureBeat: Roblox, game developers, and JDRF team up to fight type 1 diabetes

Animal Crossing™: New Horizons is a popular Nintendo Switch™ game that puts you in charge of your own personal island. Insulet, the makers of Omnipod®, used the tools available to Animal Crossing™ players to create Omnipod Bay, an island that reflects the experiences of people with diabetes. JDRF and three other T1D advocacy groups have a presence on the island.

On Omnipod Bay, you can solve an obstacle maze, sing in a concert, explore themed areas (like diabetes camp, Bolus Beach, and the A1 Sea), walk the runway, and even piece together a hidden code to win an in-game prize. Fashionable outfits are available with pumps and diabetes supply bags built in, so you can customize your character to look more like you. 

When COVID-19 hit and in-person events like JDRF One Walk® had to be reimagined, we jumped at the opportunity to provide a walk-like experience inside a video game, and JDRF One World was born. In cooperation with JDRF UK, we later expanded JDRF One World and integrated UK-based landmarks such as Big Ben.

JDRF One World is a virtual world built for Roblox, the #1 online gaming platform for kids and teens. It’s a family-friendly place where people of all ages can get together, play games, learn about T1D, and hang out with old friends or meet new ones. Plus, it’s free to play!

JDRF’s Northern California chapter began exploring video game fundraising after Dan Connors, a game industry veteran and T1D dad, set up a donation through the online game store Humble Bundle. Excited by the possibilities, we collaborated with Dan and Hans ten Cate, another T1D dad in the game industry, to help get JDRF Game2Give off the ground.

In 2020, JDRF Game2Give grew into a worldwide initiative and JDRF hired T1D dad and former game industry executive Josh Larson to lead the program. As JDRF Game2Give grows, more and more video game professionals with T1D connections have joined our volunteer group, all with a common goal: to develop creative ways to advance JDRF’s mission of improving lives and finding cures, and to have fun doing it.