April Arellano’s father watched his daughter turn purple as he and his wife rushed the 15-month-old toddler from one hospital to the next. She was struggling to breathe, and her tiny body burned with a high fever. The first hospital they brought her to diagnosed her with pneumonia in her right lung but were unable to treat her, forcing her parents to look for another alternative.
Her parents brought April to Children’s Health of Orange County, a hospital within the Children’s Miracle Network. Doctors at CHOC were able to treat April and save her life, but she was also suffering from septic shock, a disease that is 98 percent fatal in children. After transferring her to a nearby hospital’s burn unit, doctors found gangrene in her right calf that required the amputation of her leg to once again save her life.
April is now 10 years old and loves to sing, dance, perform in local theater, and play video games. She’ll soon be embarking on a new journey in the digital world of Guild Wars 2 as the newest non-playable character to help raise money for Extra Life and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Every year in November, video gamers and tabletop players around the world boot up their streams and hold gatherings to raise money for charity on Extra Life Game Day. This year, Guild Wars 2 has concocted a clever method of raising money and awareness for Extra Life and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Drawing on April’s story, Guild Wars 2 created side content where players can meet her in-game. Her character, voiced by the renowned Jennifer Hale, will appear as part of a special game update that will go live during the Extra Life 2022 Game Day event.
Guild Wars 2 draws inspiration from a real-life hero
Guild Wars 2 is kicking off its celebration on Nov. 4 and will stream for 24 hours for Extra Life Game Day. The game will update to include April’s character around that time.
April is a Mesmer raised just outside of Divinity’s Reach, one of Guild Wars 2’s main cities. Her character is described in Guild Wars 2’s blog post as an “adept mesmer—and a serial meddler.” Not much else was disclosed about what more players will learn about her character in the new update, but narrative designer Indigo Boock told Dot Esports that April’s personality really shines through even though the team had to adapt certain aspects into the Guild Wars 2 universe.
“There’s kind of two facets to this story,” Boock said. “There’s the story of April’s character now and what she’s experiencing, and then there’s also, for our lore hounds out there, a sneaky little B story that kind of digs into some ancient history, which is pretty fun.”
Not only is the game showcasing April and her story, it’s also pulling out all the stops to do so. Jennifer Hale, a seasoned and talented voice actress, will be voicing April’s lines. Most gamers have probably heard Hale’s voice at some point in their gaming experiences, since she’s voice-acted for many popular games such as Mass Effect, Overwatch, The Elder Scrolls Online, and she was recently selected as the new voice of Bayonetta for Bayonetta 3. Hale is also already very familiar with Guild Wars 2, since she voices the female Sylvari player character.
What is Extra Life Game Day 2022?
Extra Life Game Day is a charity stream that can last up to 24 hours. Some streamers start with a predetermined amount of time and require donations to extend the stream, while others go for the whole 24-hour period, setting a number of fun milestones to reach their donation goal. Some fun milestones streamers have come up with include getting pied in the face, dying their hair, and eating gross jellybeans, or it can be simpler actions such as viewers controlling the way they play the game, which game they play, or writing names on a surface seen on stream.
The Extra Life marathon will benefit Children’s Miracle Network, which is made up of 170 hospitals throughout the U.S. and Canada. The donations help pay for healthcare costs for critically ill and injured children who are not covered by health insurance. Donations also fund pediatric medical equipment and disease research. CMN provides 32 million treatments each year to children in these areas, some of which are funded by events like Extra Life Game Day.
Extra Life Game Day doesn’t just apply to video games either. Many folks hold in-person game days and raise money using bet tactics, swear jars, or donation parameters set for board games, card games, and tabletop RPGs.
For streamers that want to contribute, the Extra Life Game Day website has resources like stream overlays, donation, tools, and a media kit to get them started. There are even rewards for gaining certain milestones.
Guild Wars 2 is going all out for Extra Life Game Day 2022
It’s not the first time Guild Wars 2 has done in-game events for Extra Life Game Day. Guild Wars 2’s developer ArenaNet has participated in raising money for the charity since 2017 through donations that reward in-game items.
For each goal the company achieved, an Extra Life Bonus effect would apply. Starting in 2019, players were also able to buy Extra Life Donation Bundles that contained a mini exclusive to that year, an Extra Life Karma Booster, and a Temporary Selfless Potion that added a halo above the players’ head for an hour. Players also got an Extra Life title for buying any of the bundles.
Each year, ArenaNet sets a new goal and tries to achieve it within the 24-hour period when the stream is live. Last year, the event raised over $100,000 in that time, and this year the team hopes to raise $125,000 by the end of the Game Day livestream. ArenaNet has amassed over $500,000 in donations since the developer started participating in 2017.
In addition to all of the festivities of Extra Life Game Day in Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet is also bringing back Twitch Drops during the livestream. No details have been released about what will be dropping on Twitch, but more information will be released soon.
April brings Extra Life and Guild Wars 2 together
The concept of putting a CMN Champion Child into the game came from senior content marketing strategist Rubi Bayer, who many Guild Wars 2 fans know as the host of Guild Chat. Rubi put the idea into motion by working with cause partnerships manager at Children’s Miracle Network Shelby Wells, who helped put her in touch with April’s family. As soon as Bayer saw April’s prosthetic, she knew Guild Wars 2 developers were going to integrate Jade Tech, a technology used in Guild Wars 2, in her character’s design.
Although fans will not get to meet April in person, it’s clear she’s quite a character both in and outside of the game. Guild Wars 2 developers told Dot Esports that April met with them in a Zoom call to discuss her character so she could have input on how she was portrayed and to give them an idea of what she’s like.
Senior game designer Nicholas Hernandez told Dot Esports that they started developing April’s character before they even met her. Developers were able to bring April’s personality through to her in-game character, and felt like they were one in the same, even though they had to age her up for legality and narrative reasons.
“The heart and the personality of April are definitely in that character in the game,” Hernandez said.
Boock, who created April’s narrative design, was also inspired by the 10-year-old when they spoke.
“It was such an inspiration getting to meet with [April],” Boock said. “She just translated to the page so, so beautifully. And I was really honored to be able to write that. And this character feels like what April would do under this circumstance. And she’s just getting up to some trouble. And I only hope that I did her justice.”
Those looking to meet April in Guild Wars 2 will find her and her Jade tech prosthetic in the game after the update goes live. Between April’s sparkling and fun character, new content for Guild Wars 2 fans, and a 24-hour stream raising money for charity, Guild Wars 2 developers have truly outdone themselves in the name of Extra Life Game Day in a way that will be tough to beat in the years to come.
