2nd September 2010 - Xbox Australia has announced a partnership fundraising campaign with Make-A-Wish that will see proceeds from the sale of Halo Reach avatars and the Halo Wireless headset for the highly anticipated game on Xbox 360, Halo Reach, go to helping the charity grant Wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
The announcement is led by Apollo 11 moon-landing astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, this week at a public lecture at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
Managing Director for Xbox Australia, David McLean, said the idea to partner the launch of Halo Reach with a charity came from an unlikely source but was truly inspirational.
“The inspiration for this campaign actually came from a marketing student at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brendan Graham, who posted it online as part of a marketing competition. Our team saw this and spoke to Brendan directly to ask if he could help us make it happen. We contacted Make-A-Wish with the idea and away we went. It’s very exciting for Xbox to see the idea take shape and become a reality”, McLean said.
McLean also said partnering with Buzz Aldrin to make the announcement came as a natural fit due to the setting of Halo. Halo is a science fiction game series based in a world where space travel between planets is commonplace.
The Halo game series has reached blockbuster status worldwide and has sold over 1 million copies in Australia alone over its franchise history – one of the most popular Xbox games in Australia to date.
The campaign will give 100% of proceeds from the sales of Halo Reach avatars sold to Australian customers till October 31st, 2010 and $5 per unit sold of the Halo Reach wireless headsets sold in Australia, go directly to Make-A-Wish.
Interim CEO of Make-A-Wish Australia, Vici Funnell, welcomed the commitment from Xbox and said the campaign will provide a great boost to help the organisation with its goals in the coming years.
“Make-A-Wish Australia are very happy to continue the relationship with Xbox. Our key aim is to assist our Wish Kids as they fight illnesses and enrich their lives with hope, strength and joy and we applaud Xbox for helping us do this – we are truly grateful.” Vici said.
Forty one years after walking on the moon, Buzz Aldrin is visiting Australia to launch the much anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo Reach. Mr Aldrin personally announced the partnership between Xbox and Make-A-Wish at a public lecture at UTS this week. He said he was impressed with the idea to engage Xbox gamers to deliver support funding to charity.
“It’s great to see how a company like Microsoft can utilise its relationship with the Australian Xbox LIVE community to raise awareness and funding for such a great cause. It’s inspirational.” Buzz said.
Details of donations from Halo Reach profits that will go to Make-A-Wish: Donation to equal $AUD30,000 minimum:
- For every Halo Reach Avatar item purchased by Australian gamers by October 31st, 100% of proceeds will go to Make-A-Wish.
- For every Halo Reach Wireless headset sold in Australia, $5 per unit will go to Make-A-Wish