Z Event

The Z Event is a francophone charity project created by Adrien Nougaret and Alexandre Dachary (respectively known under the pseudonyms ZeratoR and Dach) whose goal is to bring together French streamers to collect donations that will support a charity. It is hosted on the Twitch streaming platform.

Z Event Avengers Project
Status	active
Genre	livestreamed charity project
Frequency	annually
Venue	Sud de France Arena
Location(s)	Montpellier, Hérault
Country	France
Years active	7 years (7 editions)
Founded	March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04)
Founders	Adrien Nougaret Alexandre Dachary
Most recent	September 9, 2022
Participants	Streamers 60 streamers (2022) 51 streamers (2021) 54 streamers (2020) 56 streamers (2019) 38 streamers (2018) 30 streamers (2017) 16 streamers (2016)
Attendance	At peak audience 545,202 viewers (2022) 1,030,209 viewers (2021) 660,796 viewers (2020) 592,006 viewers (2019) 405,033 viewers (2018) 109,382 viewers (2017) On average 216,999 viewers (2022) 270,108 viewers (2021) 243,989 viewers (2020) 153,582 viewers (2019) 121,600 viewers (2018) 40,592 viewers (2017)
Major events	Video games Discussions Challenges Contests Quizzes Karaoke
People	Most present streamers DrFeelGood Doigby Domingo GoB GG Jeel Jiraya Lapi Lege Le Roi Bisou Xari ZeratoR
Website	zevent.fr

The first edition took place in 2016 under the name Project Avengers. The event is in the benefit, successively, of Save the Children, the French Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Pasteur Institute, Amnesty International, Action Against Hunger and four distinct associations acting in the environmental protection during the 2022 edition.

It has raised more money than any other French video gaming event.^[1] During the 2021 stream, Z Event raised €10 million Euros ($11.7 million), a world record.^[2][3] In total, between 2016 and 2022, these events raised more than 31.2 million euros or close to 34.6 million dollars.

Format

 

Adrien Nougaret (ZeratoR), creator and co-organizer of the Z Event

The Z Event is an annual charity marathon organized since 2016 and taking place over three days. It brings together French-speaking streamers with the aim of collecting donations for a charity.^[4][5]

The event physically takes place in the Hérault department, more precisely at the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, and is broadcast on the streaming site Twitch. All the creators present broadcast a video stream in succession, the content of which is mostly dedicated to video games, but also to discussions or physical events such as challenges, contests, quizzes or karaoke.^[4][6][5]

In order to encourage donations, the streamers present each define "donation goals", i.e. a list of donation objectives. For each goal they reach, they commit to a specific action, usually requested by their audience or fun to watch.^[5][7] In addition to the donations made, merchandise (mostly t-shirts) is sold to benefit the chosen charity.^[8]

Editions

Summary table of editions^[9]

Event	Date	Beneficiary charities	Amount collected	More informations
Avengers Project	March 4 to 6, 2016	Save the Children	€170,000	Shortest edition, with 34 hours of live stream.
Z Event 2017	September 8 to 10, 2017	French Red Cross	€500,000	First edition under the name of "Z Event".
Z Event 2018	November 9 to 11, 2018	Médecins Sans Frontières	€1,094,731	First Z Event to exceed the million euros.
Z Event 2019	September 20 to 23, 2019	Pasteur Institute	€3,509,878	World record for a charity stream on Twitch.
Z Event 2020	October 16 to 18, 2020^[10]	Amnesty International	€5,724,377	Occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the streamers participate remotely in the event.
Z Event 2021	October 29 to 31, 2021	Action Against Hunger	€10,064,480	A concert takes place the day before the launch of the edition. Audience record for a French stream broadcast on Twitch.
Z Event 2022	September 9 to 11, 2022	Sea Shepherd France Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux [fr] WWF (France) Time for the Planet [fr] The SeaCleaners [fr]	€10,182,126	The event was initially to be held for the sole benefit of the GoodPlanet foundation. A new concert is organized the day before the launch of the charity marathon. The event is extended to correct a technical incident: it ends on September 12 at 2 a.m.

Avengers Project (2016)

The French branch of the "Avengers Project" took place from March 4 to 6, 2016, on the call of Bachir Boumaaza. Its charitable program "Gaming for Good" aims to collect donations for the NGO Save the Children during the drought in Ethiopia.

ZeratoR brought together 16 streamers and friends at his home for 34 hours of live, raising €170,770.^[11][12]

Z Event 2017

The Z Event took place from September 8 to 10, 2017, to collect donations for the French Red Cross during Hurricane Irma in the West Indies.

This time, 30 streamers meet in a garage set up for the occasion. The event raised a total of €451,851.^[1][13]

He was congratulated by the President of the French Republic, then Emmanuel Macron, on Twitter.^[14]

Z Event 2018

The Z Event took place from November 9 to 11, 2018,^[15] to collect donations for the Médecins Sans Frontières association.^[16]

In total, 38 streamers participate in this charity event organized in a room made available by the Occitania region. In 53 hours, the event brings in a total of €1,094,731.34.^[17] The sum raised was essentially used to reconstruct fully a destroyed hospital in Yemen.^[18]

During this edition, the event is broadcast live on NRJ radio^[19]

Z Event 2019

Following the 2018 edition, organizers received over 400 requests from non-governmental organizations.^[20] After examining the latter, the Pasteur Institute was chosen. The 2019 edition of the Z Event took place from September 20 to 22, 2019, in Montpellier.^[21] In total, 55 Francophone streamers were gathered in a room made available by the Metropole of Montpellier for a total event duration of 54 hours.^[21][22][23] Squeezie, Antoine Daniel and Joueur du Grenier participated in the event.

On the second day, Riot Games made a donation of €20,000,^[24] Webedia €25,000, then the American streamer Ninja €26,000.^[25][26] A total of €3,510,682 were raised by the end of the event,^[20][27] breaking the record for the largest amount of money collected at a charity event on the live streaming platform Twitch.^[28] On his Twitter account, the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron congratulated the initiative.^[20][27]

Z Event 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization of a 2020 edition was initially uncertain. Indeed, ZeratoR said on April 29, 2020, live, at the time in full containment in France, that it may not be possible given the atmosphere of the time. On August 31, 2020, during a live performance where he returned to the Z LAN 2020, a few weeks before the event's regular run (usually between September and November), he announced that "until the 2020 edition is announced, there will be none". Despite this, on October 4, 2020, the event was announced to be held from 16 to 18 October 2020 in Montpellier, the beneficiary of which will be Amnesty International France.

In order to limit the risk of COVID-19 propagation, ZeratoR announced at the same time a strict protocol. The 85 participants (including streamers and team members) had to pass a PCR test, and those who would be tested positive could not participate. The organisers therefore invited all participants to isolate themselves at home until October 16. The event took place for the first time in a hotel, that participants were not able to leave during the event.

The store sold over 120,000 T-shirts,^[29] and more than 132,000 donators of 1 euro registered during the event. On the Twitter account of the Presidency of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron congratulated the initiative as for the previous editions. Participants gathered in total more than 5.7 million euros.

Z Event 2021

Announced on 14 October 2021, the 2021 edition was held from 29 to 31 October 2021, to the benefit of Action contre la faim.^{[30][31][32][33]}

A concert in support of the humanitarian organization, featuring performances by the musician PV Nova [fr] and the streamer LittleBigWhale, the group L.E.J, as well as the rapper Fianso, was played on October 28, in La Grande-Motte,^[34][35] in front of an audience of nearly 400 people. Its online broadcast was followed by more than 100 000 spectators.^[36]

An hour after the beginning of the event, almost €500,000 had already been collected,^[37] and the collected funds were raised to €2,000,000 in 24 hours.^[34] The largest amount of donations were given during the last hours of the event: on 31 October 2021, at noon, €3,000,000 had been raised — then €4,500,000 at 8:00pm, and up to €8,500,000 right before midnight, including goodies sales.^[34][38]

In total, more than 500,000 donations were made during the caritative marathon, and 172,000 T-shirts were sold, raising nearly €2,700,000.^[34][39][40] Z Event 2021 collected in total more than €10,000,000 (US$11,600,000) in favour of Action contre la faim. ZeratoR's end stream was followed by 720,000 people simultaneously, and Inoxtag's stream peaked at 453,000 viewers when the young streamer invited the Mexican actress Andrea Pedrero, making it a record in France, and being the 3rd most watched stream ever.^[39]

Z Event 2022

The 2022 edition was publicly announced on July 4, 2022, and will take place from 9 to 11 September 2022, initially dedicated to the GoodPlanet Foundation.^[41]

As in the previous edition, a concert is planned to be held the day before the launch of the event. It will include performances by PV Nova, the streamer LittleBigWhale, French Fuse, Berywam, Bigflo & Oli and Soprano at the Zenith of Montpellier.^[42]

Several criticisms emerged on social networks when the event was announced. They mainly target the absence of some streamers who participated to the previous editions,^[43] as well as the choice of the GoodPlanet Foundation as beneficiary association, this one facing many accusations of greenwashing especially around its financing.^[44]

Five days after the announcement, negative reactions online prompted the Z Event to cancel its partnership with the GoodPlanet Foundation.^[45] ZeratoR then announced that the money raised during the event would be divided equally among five associations, chosen by public vote from a shortlist of 22 organizations. The five associations finally chosen as beneficiaries are Sea Shepherd France, Ligue pour la protection des oiseaux [fr], WWF France, Time for the Planet [fr] and The SeaCleaners [fr].

Participating streamers

Streamers	Events
	Projet Avengers (2016)	Z Event 2017	Z Event 2018	Z Event 2019	Z Event 2020	Z Event 2021	Z Event 2022
ZeratoR	Present
Dach	Present
Aypierre	Present		Present
BlueLondon	Present
DrFeelgood (DFG)	Present
Doigby	Present				Remotely	Present
Domingo	Present
GoB GG	Present
Jeel	Present
Jiraya	Present				Remotely	Present
Lapi	Present
Lege	Present
Le Roi Bisou (LRB)	Present
Narkuss	Present		Present				Present
Tweekz	Present
Xari	Present
Aayley		Present
Alderiate		Present
AlphaCast		Present
Benzaie		Present
Bestmarmotte		Present
Diabalzane		Present
Gius		Present
Hexakil		Present
ImSoFresh		Present					Present
Kenny		Present
Laink		Present
Lutti		Present
Mamytwink		Present
MisterMV		Present			Remotely	Present
MoMaN		Present
Nono		Present
Sardoche		Present
Valahan		Present
Zankioh		Present
Zecharia		Present
Chap			Present
Gotaga			Present		Remotely	Present
Kameto			Present
Locklear			Present		Remotely	Present
Maghla			Present
Mickalow			Present		Remotely
Mizu			Present
Nyo			Present
Terracid			Present
Trinity			Present
Wakz			Present
Aiekillu				Present
Antoine Daniel				Present	Remotely	Present
Baghera Jones				Present			Present
CarlJr.				Present			Present
Etoiles				Present
Gomar4t				Present
Joueur du Grenier				Present			Remotely
Kotei				Present
LittleBigWhale				Present
MasterSnakou				Present			Present
Odemian				Present
Oono				Present
Squeezie				Present	Remotely
Tio				Present
Wingobear				Present
Zack Nani				Present
DamDamLive					Present
Deujna					Remotely	Present
Funka					Present
Jbzz					Present		Present
Jean Massiet					Remotely	Present
JLAmaru					Present
JLTomy					Present
JunPei					Present
Kao					Present
Koka					Present
LeBouseuh					Present
Ponce					Present
Rivenzi					Present
Rizotochaud					Present
TKL					Present
TPK					Present
Ultia					Present
Alexclick						Present
Aminematue						Present
Angle Droit						Present
Befreesh						Present
Bob Lennon						Present
Camak						Present
Chowh1						Present
Inoxtag						Present
JLFake						Present
Michou						Present
Mynthos						Present
Rebeudeter						Present
Altair							Present
Avamind							Present
Berlu							Present
Bigflo & Oli							Present
Blitzstream							Present
Bren							Present
Ceb							Present
Horty							Present
NBK							Present
Pape San							Present
Shaunz							Present
Shisheyu							Present
Skyyart							Present
Time for the Planet							Present
Tonton							Present
Un33d							Present

References

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3. "Streamer Ninja helps Z Event reach €3 million target with big donation". Metro. 2019-09-23. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
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