Summary
- World of Warcraft has partnered with actress Mila Kunis and BlueCheck Ukraine to release two companion pets, with 100% of the profits going to charity.
- The pets, Sunny the Golden Retriever and Flurky the Baby Murloc, were specifically chosen for their colors that match the Ukrainian national flag.
- While World of Warcraft has faced controversy in Ukraine for trying to increase subscription prices, this partnership aims to raise funds for humanitarian relief efforts in the country.
As part of the ongoing relief efforts in Ukraine, World of Warcraft revealed a collaborative effort with actress and activist Mila Kunis and the BlueCheck Ukraine umbrella charity in the form of two companion pets. Both Sunny the Golden Retriever and Flurky the Baby Murloc will be respectively available in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight and Wrath of the Lich King Classic, and 100% of all purchases will go directly to BlueCheck Ukraine for a limited time.
Though World of Warcraft is no stranger to helping charities via the Battle.net Shop in the past, its recent history with Ukraine has been controversial. Earlier this year, Blizzard announced plans to increase the monthly subscription price of World of Warcraft in both Ukraine and Turkey in response to global inflation and increasing costs. While the Turkish price increase went through, the intense player backlash on social media and the forums led to Blizzard reversing course on the price increase in Ukraine. But, Blizzard's business with Ukraine did not stop there.
From now until August 29, World of Warcraft players that purchase the $20 Pet Pack for Ukraine will see 100% of their purchase go directly to BlueCheck Ukraine. Co-founded by actor and activist Liev Schreiber, BlueCheck Ukraine is a collaborative effort of multiple, thoroughly vetted causes such as Project Victory and the Lviv Internation Symphony Orchestra to provide various forms of humanitarian relief to Ukrainians caught in the crossfire. In a video posted by Blizzard, actress Mila Kunis, known for her work with her husband Ashton Kutcher on That '70s Show, stated that she was born in Ukraine but moved to the United States in 1991. After raising donations to help Ukrainian relief efforts, Kunis was contacted by Schreiber about BlueCheck Ukraine, which eventually led to this collaboration with World of Warcraft.
Both Sunny and Flurky were chosen for this charity drive because their respective colors of gold and blue match the colors of the Ukrainian national flag. Plus, Flurky holds a sunflower when summoned, which is considered to be Ukraine's national flower. World of Warcraft players that purchase the Pet Pack for Ukraine will have Sunny added to their pet collection automatically in Dragonflight. However, Wrath of the Lich King Classic players will need to undertake a short quest in order to obtain Flurky. The quest can be started by speaking to any of the capital city innkeepers or with Landro Longshot in Booty Bay.
Though the Battle.net Shop has been a controversial point of discussion among players, World of Warcraft's past efforts with charities such as Doctors Without Borders have been effective fundraisers. Only time will tell how many bundles will be sold for the ongoing relief efforts in Ukraine.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
Source: World of Warcraft