With EA Play to Give, video games publisher Electronic Arts is donating $1 million to charity as well as hosting in-game events in Battlefield 4, Star Wars Battlefront, and more.

For E3 this year, games publisher Electronic Arts revealed that it would be doing things a bit differently. Instead of its usual way of doing things, the company would instead hold a press conference before allowing gamers (rather than just the gaming press) to get hands on time with its new titles, even allowing YouTubers and streamers to post footage of the games to the web. But that’s not the only way in which Electronic Arts is switching things up for E3 2016 as alongside the exciting video game announcements and reveals (such as the debut of Titanfall 2 gameplay footage), EA has also announced a charity program called EA Play to Give.

EA Play to Give is all about “celebrating the gaming community,” says the company. As such, EA is donating $1 million (in total) to five different charities, which it says is “in celebration of players.” These five charities are HeForShe, Code.org, Code2040, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, and SpecialEffect.

EA explains that “these organizations give back to our player communities, support a more inclusive environment in video games and help support and foster future game-makers.” For example, Code2040 aims to foster opportunity for engineering talent from “underrepresented minorities,” while SpecialEffect aims to make video games more accessible for disabled gamers.

Moreover, EA is also hosting several in-game events which will further help celebrate Play to Give and, as EA will also be hoping, they will help to increase awareness about Play to Give and the charities that it supports. Between June 12-17, Battlefield 4 players can bag themselves a Gold Battlepack if players (as a community) get a re-supply score of 45 million, while the Battlefield Hardline community only needs to get a 5 million re-supply score for a Gold Battlepack.

Meanwhile, Star Wars Battlefront players have plenty of reason to play the game this month (besides the upcoming Bespin DLC), as any player that completes a multiplayer match between June 12-14 will get triple score and credits as part of the 3X Event. Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes players have to deploy a squad of female characters to face-off against droids in order to earn 50,000 credits and character shards for Rey, Princess Leia, and more.

FIFA 16 players can participate in the EA Play to Give Cup in FIFA Ultimate Team, getting themselves a Rare Mega Pack for their first time winning the tournament and a Premium Coins Pack for any wins after the fact. Between June 12-19, Madden NFL 16 players can complete “a short objective list” to get themselves 2,040 coins and a Pro Pack.

Are you glad to see EA take a different approach for E3 2016? Will you be taking part in any of the EA Play to Give events? Let us know in the comments.

Gamers can take part in Electronic Arts' Play to Give if they own Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, FIFA 16, and Madden 16.

Source: EA