Fake Kaz Hirai Twitter account to end with a charity drive

KazHiraiCEO, one of the best gaming-related accounts on Twitter, will cease to tweet on June 15, right after E3 2018. But the anonymous user behind the handle wants to wind things down on a thoughtful note: by raising money for a charity organization.

“Like the PlayStation Network, my Twitter account has provided a free online service to gamers for many years. But just like the PlayStation Network, I have decided to change that,” wrote Fake Kaz Hirai on Twitter. “KazHiraiCEO is moving to a free-to-read business model with microtransactions…for charity!”

In advance of their final day of tweeting, Fake Kaz Hirai hopes to collect £599 for SpecialEffect, a British organization that works with people who have physical conditions that may otherwise prevent them from playing video games. The charity focuses on providing technology that accommodates the specific needs of all kinds of players across Great Britain, including offering customized controllers and hooking people up with eye movement-based tools.

This way seem like a strange turn for a joke account, whose user built their platform by tossing witty barbs at ex-Sony CEO Kaz Hirai. But the person in charge of the Twitter hasn’t been afraid to get serious in the past, including when they announced that they were getting ready to leave the account behind.

“If you have enjoyed my Twitter account over the years, I would really appreciate if you donated to SpecialEffect,” wrote Fake Kaz Hirai on their Just Giving donation page. “If you can’t afford a donation but still want to help, I would also greatly appreciate if you retweeted or shared a link.”

One day into the campaign, Fake Kaz Hirai has raised more than 37 percent of their goal. Considering that they have 120,000 Twitter followers, they should be able to make that target well before the account’s final days.