MEMPHIS, Tenn., May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gamers worldwide are powering up their consoles to raise funds and awareness for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital(®) founded by Danny Thomas, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The fourth annual St. Jude PLAY LIVE prize season has kicked off, as thousands of gamers work to raise $1,000,000 during the month of May. St. Jude PLAY LIVE is a video game charity program that has raised more than $4.2 million in the last four years and encourages participants to level-up for kids fighting for their lives.

The rules for this charity event are simple: gamers sign up at playlive.stjude.org, set a fundraising goal, share the program with friends and family, and see how much they can raise while playing their favorite games. Netting stars as you race down the track in Mario Kart won't just gain you a boost in the game, it will help ensure that no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food -- because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

Professional video game broadcasters ProfessorBroman, littlesiha, IAmSp00n, and others recently visited St. Jude to spend time with the patients, learn how their support helps families and launch St. Jude PLAY LIVE. Patients challenged the gamers to matches, decorated cookies and spent quality time giving patients an opportunity to just be a kid, despite what they are going through.

Since St. Jude PLAY LIVE's inception, GameStop has provided participants with high-level prizes for supporting St. Jude PLAY LIVE. This year's grand prize package is a trip for two to the highly anticipated 2017 GameStop Expo held August 27 in Las Vegas, Nevada. GameStop is providing PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gaming systems, and thousands of dollars in gift cards to lucky fundraisers during the prize season.

But that's not all. GameStop is teaming up again with the professional video game broadcaster team Main Menu to fundraise for St. Jude all month long. GameStop will also host an exclusive preview of Bethesda Softworks' upcoming first-person sci-fi action game, Prey, on May 3, and an employee stream on May 18, both on https://www.twitch.tv/gamestop. On top of all of that and the amazing prizes, GameStop is matching up to $45,000 in donations raised for St. Jude from any donations made during the month-long prize season.

Additionally, fundraisers can earn exclusives prizes from Twitch, OriginPC, DXRacer, Alienware and others. Full details can be found on the St. Jude PLAY LIVE website. The event will run until May 31, 2017.

Registration for St. Jude PLAY LIVE is open now at playlive.stjude.org. You can find out more by following @stjudeplaylive on Twitter.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Founded by Danny Thomas, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food - because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).

About Prey
Set to launch worldwide on Friday, May 5(th) on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, Prey is the highly anticipated first-person sci-fi action game from Arkane Studios - creators of the award-winning Dishonored series which includes the 2012 'Game of the Year' and the critically-acclaimed follow-up, Dishonored 2. In addition, a free Prey demo is now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, allowing fans to board Talos I and play the opening hour before the game launches worldwide. Prey has been rated M for mature by the ESRB. For more information about the game please visit: prey.bethesda.net.

About GameStop Corp.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, is a global, multichannel video game, consumer electronics and wireless services retailer. GameStop operates more than 7,500 stores across 14 countries. The company's consumer product network also includes www.gamestop.com; www.Kongregate.com, a leading browser-based game site; Game Informer® magazine, the world's leading print and digital video game publication; and ThinkGeek, www.thinkgeek.com, the premier retailer for the global geek community featuring exclusive and unique video game and pop culture products. Our Technology Brands segment includes 1,522 Simply Mac, Spring Mobile AT&T and Cricket stores. Simply Mac, www.simplymac.com, sells the full line of Apple products, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones and offers Apple certified warranty and repair services. Spring Mobile, www.springmobile.com, sells all of AT&T's products and services, including DIRECTV and offers pre-paid wireless services, devices and related accessories through its Cricket branded stores in select markets in the U.S. General information about GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company's corporate website.

Follow @GameStop and @GameStopCorp on Twitter and find GameStop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GameStop.

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SOURCE ALSAC / St. Jude Children's Research Hospital