Competitive gamers from the U.S. and U.K. militaries competed in an annual tournament on Friday to benefit veterans employment.
The Space Force took first place in the Call of Duty Endowment’s second annual video game competition, the C.O.D.E. Bowl, which raised funds primarily through sponsorships from big names like USAA and Ram Trucks. The endowment has not released final numbers, but estimates about $1 million was brought in through the tournament.
And because Call of Duty publisher Activision covers all of the endowments operating costs, all the money raised goes toward its mission, according to the organization.
To date, the Call of Duty Endowment has placed some 77,000 veterans in jobs, according to its head executive. The organization estimates it spends about $499 per veteran to get them employed, or a sixth of what it costs the Labor Department.
This is done “by finding and the highest-performing nonprofits in this space to do this work,” Call of Duty Endowment Executive Director Dan Goldenberg told Military Times during a Twitch livestream on Thursday.
Several years ago, the endowment partnered with financial consulting firm Deloitte to create a methodology to find the highest-performing nonprofits and help them grow, Goldenberg said.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the veteran unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in November, up from 5.9 percent the previous month, lower than the national non-veteran unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
Goldenberg said those numbers are “incredibly unreliable” and were never meant to collect data on veterans employment.
Read More: Space Force dominates online video game tournament in the name of veterans