VENICE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the spirit of giving this holiday season, Seriously, a leading mobile-first entertainment company, and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres announced today the world’s biggest mobile charity game race with Seriously’s hit game, Best Fiends. Through the competition, up to a quarter of a million dollars will be donated to charity from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and Best Fiends’ “Race Against Slime 2.”
With the help of 20 of the world’s biggest YouTube stars and social media influencers, including PewDiePie, Markiplier, Hayes Grier and Rebecca Black, participants will be divided into seven teams to compete in a race within the Best Fiends mobile game. Teams will be playing to benefit charities including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, charity: water, Hope for Holt, Malaria No More, Oceana, SpecialEffect and War Child. The competition will kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 19 and end on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. The winning team will be announced on Twitter by “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015.
“What’s exciting about this year’s ‘Race Against Slime’ is that it brings to life a fun and social aspect of the mobile game while also giving back this holiday season,” said Andrew Stalbow, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seriously. “The race will be fully integrated into the Best Fiends game, allowing fans to directly participate in the competition for the charity of their choice.”
With a combined following of over 100 million YouTube subscribers, on Dec. 19, each of the YouTubers and social media influencers will release a kickoff video on their own channels announcing their participation in the race, which charity they will play for, and encourage their fans to play Best Fiends to help support their cause. Players of Best Fiends can help their favorite team win by selecting which team and charity they would like to play for by donating their defeated Slugs in the limited edition Holiday levels of the game. If 100,000,000 Slugs are collectively defeated during the competition by all teams and players, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has pledged to match Seriously’s donation to reach a total of $250,000.
Seriously has always been committed to giving back, and has done several campaigns with YouTube stars and influencers. This year’s “Race Against Slime 2” competition follows last year’s race in which Seriously donated a total of $50,000 to charities. Malaria No More has been Seriously’s charity partner since the launch of Best Fiends in October, 2014 and the partnership has helped support thousands of children in Africa being treated for the disease since then.
For more information on the “Race Against Slime 2” competition, visit www.bestfiends.com/raceagainstslime2. Download Best Fiends at download.bestfiends.com.
About Seriously
Seriously is a mobile-first entertainment company focused on building mobile games that are designed to be developed into global entertainment properties. Seriously’s first property, Best Fiends, was released in October 2014 and since then has been downloaded nearly 25 million times with up to 1.7 million daily active players.
The company is funded by Upfront Ventures, Northzone, Korea Investment Partners, Sunstone Capital and Daher Capital. Seriously has offices in Venice, California, where business development and marketing are based, and in Helsinki, Finland, where the studio is located.
