Games Done Quick charity speedrun event raises $2.6 million

Games Done Quick charity speedrun event raises $2.6 million

A total of $2,642,493 was raised over AGDQ 2023 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. | Image: Games Done Quick

Games Done Quick has raised more than $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation at its first video game speedrunning event of 2023. While falling short of matching the $3.4 million raised during AGDQ 2022 last year, the cash raised at AGDC 2023 brings the total amount raised for charity to date by Games Done Quick to $43 million (seen via Kotaku).

The organization, which holds two charity video game marathons each year — Awesome Games Done Quick in January, and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), usually held in late June or early July — announced the total sum raised on Twitter, alongside the hashtag “#ThankYouMike.” Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama announced last week that he would be stepping down from the charity after 13 years due to health reasons, making AGDQ 2023 likely to be his last event for a while.

TIME
#AGDQ2023 has raised a total amount of $2,642,493 for @preventcancer!

Thank you to everyone who made this marathon possible, and to all of you for your amazing generosity & support

See you all next time at #SGDQ2023 from May 28th to June 4th ⏱️ #ThankYouMike pic.twitter.com/h3lkCmg0J7

— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) January 15, 2023

The online AGDQ 2023 event was livestreamed on Twitch between January 8th and 15th, and featured some of the world’s most talented speedrunners. Four speedrunning world records were broken during the event, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (co-op Any% Arcade Old Patch by Benja and Paul-Knives) and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Any% with Bank Run by Jhay). Videos of other speedrunning records and footage from the wider event can be found on the Games Done Quick YouTube channel.

The January event was originally intended to be the first in-person event for GDQ in three years, scheduled to take place in Florida in front of a live audience. The organization later decided to remain online only, alluding to the state’s covid policies and “increased aggression” towards LGBTQ+ individuals. “We do not believe it is a safe place for our community at this time,” said GDQ via an announcement on its website.