SpecialEffect's One Special Day mobile promotion is live across selected games, including Hay Day and Subway Surfers. Participating studios will donate part of their UK revenue to support disabled players.
Buying selected mobile games or downloadable content on Friday 2 October can help SpecialEffect fund technology and support for physically disabled players. The charity's One Special Day promotion brings major mobile titles and developers into a direct fundraising drive built around ordinary game purchases. The mobile campaign went live on 2 October 2026. Donations to SpecialEffect come from part of the participating UK revenue, according to PocketGamer.biz.
How the promotion works
Players in the UK can support the campaign through qualifying purchases in games including Hay Day, Golf Clash, Subway Surfers and Dream League Soccer. Participating partners will donate a percentage of the resulting UK revenue to SpecialEffect. Players do not need to make a separate donation.
Supercell, Rovio and SYBO are among the companies supporting the promotion. Playdemic, Fingersoft, Supersolid, Hyper Luminal Games, New Star Games, Miniclip, Green Man Gaming and MAG Interactive are also taking part. The participating partners set the full selection. That means not every purchase in every listed game will necessarily qualify.
The timing is limited to one day. This gives mobile communities a clear chance to take part and lets publishers and studios connect fundraising with games that already have established audiences.
Fingersoft is one of the returning participants. The company has said it has taken part in One Special Day since 2017. Its Hill Climb Racing 2 contribution included a limited in-game event running from 1 to 3 October. All in-app purchases made in the UK on 2 October were directed to support SpecialEffect. In a Cision/Miltton release, Fingersoft Product Marketing Manager Otto Simola described the studio's participation as a tradition. He also confirmed that UK IAP revenue from that date would go to the charity.
Where the money goes
SpecialEffect assists thousands of physically disabled people each year through assessments and customised technology loans. Its therapists and technical specialists work with individuals to find practical ways to play. They then share what they learn with hardware and software developers trying to make products easier to use.
This makes the promotion more than a standard charity tie-in. The money supports direct assistance. The charity's technical knowledge also reaches the wider games industry. Its work focuses on helping people play to the best of their abilities, rather than prescribing one setup for everyone.
Supercell has supported SpecialEffect across its games for nearly a decade. The company has also taken part in activities including cycling in Helsinki and One Special Walk in London. Supercell says the relationship has influenced how it thinks about inclusive design. The promotion itself remains a fundraising mechanism, not a published accessibility standard.
The distinction matters in wider games coverage. A player-first approach must separate a company's support for accessibility from measurable changes to a specific product. That discipline is also visible in our earlier breakdown of NHL 27.
A wider 2026 campaign
One Special Day 2026 is the campaign's eleventh edition. SpecialEffect hopes to raise more than £500K across its activities. The mobile promotion follows an extensive Steam Sale, a Green Man Gaming bundle beginning in early October and the second One Special Walk in London. PocketGamer.biz identifies these activities as part of the same 2026 campaign season.
These events give the campaign several ways to reach the games audience. PC players can use the Steam and Green Man Gaming activities. Mobile players can contribute through selected purchases and downloadable content. Studio events and other supporting activities have also taken place during the campaign.
SpecialEffect has also launched Open Drive, its first iOS mobile game. The charity designed it specifically for players with a wide range of physical disabilities. The project offers a practical example of the accessibility work that the fundraising is meant to support.
Why the mobile push matters
Mobile gaming gives the campaign a broad route to potential supporters. The qualifying titles cover farming, sport, racing and endless-running formats. Players do not need to learn a new donation system or attend an event. Participation is tied to selected purchases made during the promotion.
That simplicity is the strongest part of One Special Day's mobile strategy. It gives studios a concrete way to use their existing commercial reach for accessibility work. SpecialEffect keeps the specialist role that separates technical assistance from general awareness campaigning.
The confirmed figures are straightforward. The promotion takes place on Friday 2 October 2026. It forms part of the eleventh One Special Day campaign. The charity is targeting more than £500K across the edition. The source material does not state the donation percentage for each partner or the qualifying price of individual games and DLC. Those details should not be assumed.
SpecialEffect's mobile promotion is worth taking seriously for what it delivers, not for inflated claims about the industry. It turns routine purchases into targeted support for disabled players. It gives developers a practical accessibility partner and keeps the charity's wider technical work at the centre of the campaign. For readers deciding whether to take part, the useful test is simple: check the qualifying list and treat the purchase as a contribution to access as well as a game.
Revenue sharing is different from a free donation. The player still buys the qualifying title or DLC, and only a percentage of UK revenue reaches the charity. The exact share can vary by partner and is not provided here. That is why the published qualifying list matters more than assuming every item in a participating game is included. The campaign's value rests on the confirmed connection between selected purchases and SpecialEffect's accessibility work.
