Games Done Quick has been going strong for nine years. It has expanded into multiple events and streams that celebrate the speedrunning community, but more importantly it’s always been known for raising money for charities. 2019’s Summer Games Done Quick concluded this weekend, and thanks to multiple donation hype trains, raffles, bid wars to name characters, and more, the organization has set a new donation record.
Over one week, SGDQ 2019’s livestream ended with a massive pile of money — $3,003,889 for Doctors Without Borders. Donations were still accepted afterwards and as of this posting the current total is $3,034,619.12. To frame how incredible it is to see GDQ break that marker, all you need to do is to look at their history: GDQ’s last big livestream, the Awesome Games Done Quick speedrun that took place earlier this year in January, raised $2,425,790 for Prevent Cancer Foundation. That push for $608,829.12 (25% of AGDQ 2019’s total) is thanks to the video game community and some on-the-fly incentives.
Notably, speedruns for Pokémon Crystal and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! had fans throwing money at GDQ. Multiple $500 donations flooded in for Eevee to be petted in Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, for a total of $4,000. Mind you, these were the donations read on air, and countless more could have poured in that were off air. As for Pokémon Crystal, its three-hour+ run led to viewers donating dollar amounts after Pokédex numbers of their favorite Pokémon. From Bulbasaur to Melmetal, there was a parade of Pokémon fans declaring their love for their best Pokébuddy by donating.
With SGDQ 2019 over, Games Done Quick has been uploading the VODs on their YouTube and Twitch pages. From classic systems to new games there is a speedrun for everyone to check out.
Games Done Quick will be heading to San Diego, California next during TwitchCon (September 27th – 29th) for GDQx2019. Tickets to attend TwitchCon are still available and GDQx2019 will also be livestreamed on Twitch.
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
