August 14 seemed like a regular Sunday morning at the Ramat Gan headquarters of Overwolf, a company that gives in-game creators the tools, team and support to bring their creations to life from their own laptops.

But something special awaited the 130 employees. As they arrived at the office after the weekend, sipping their morning coffee, they were surprised to find out that each of them had become the official adopter of a real live wolf.

This was not a game.

The previous day, August 13, was International Wolf Day. Overwolf decided to surprise all employees and donate on their behalf to the UK-based Born Free Foundation, an international charity that protects wild animals in their natural habitat and rescues wild animals in need.

The Born Free Foundation’s Adopt a Wolf initiative is solely dedicated to protecting the Ethiopian wolf (Canis Simensis), one of Africa’s most endangered predators with a population size of less than 500 individuals in the wild.

Every Overwolf employee had a Wolf Adoption Kit waiting at his or her desk, containing a wolf adoption certificate, a photo of the newly adopted wolf, and a plush wolf doll.

Overwolf adopted 130 wolves through the Born Free Foundation for each employee and gave them these wolf dolls to symbolize their donation. Photo courtesy of Overwolf

Overwolf CEO Uri Marchand explained that a few employees had brought International Wolf Day to the attention of the management. Even though the company doesn’t deal with actual wolves, the workers “said it could be awesome for us to do something to celebrate it, on a company level,” Marchand said.

“We already liked the sound of that, and once we heard about the Born Free Foundation and all the fantastic things they do, it became very clear that we’re going all in and joining their mission,” said Marchand.

“First of all, we knew this initiative would make our employees happy; something that would empower them and strengthen their connection and sense of belonging to Overwolf and our company values,” he said, citing Overwolf’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.

As part of the adoption program, employees will receive periodic updates on their wolves and see how their company’s donation is helping Born Free’s preservation efforts.

Overwolf employees pose with their wolves and adoption certificates. Photo courtesy of Overwolf

Founded in 2010 by Marchand and Alon Rabinovitz, Overwolf has a platform that supports more than 1,000 games and enables about 100,000 creators to build gaming experiences that serve 31 million gamers every month.