Jae Choi January 15th, 2023 - 2:09 PM
The annual speedrunning marathon event Awesome Games Done Quick, also known as ADGQ, concluded on January 15th having raised $2,643,375 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. AGDQ 2023 was hosted entirely online, being livestreamed from Twitch to a peak viewership of over 100,000 viewers. The event ran from January 8 to 15 and featured speed runs from over 150 different games throughout the week.
🏁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
Games varied from smaller, obscure titles such as Fashion Police Squad and Salamander County Public Television to more recognize franchise games such as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Forces. While many speed runs were done by individual runners over commentary from the Games Done Quick broadcasters, others were completed with commentary from the game’s original developers or in a race format with multiple players beginning their speed runs at the same time. A new world record for Super Mario Galaxy 2 was even set within a four-person race format, with a time of 2:54:51.33, beating the previous world record by 4.4 seconds.
I JUST GOT WR LIVE AT GDQ IN FRONT OF 80K PEOPLE HOW IN THE ACTUAL UNIVERSE
I HAVE PEAKED IN LIFE
GALAXY FOREVER 🏴🏴🏴 pic.twitter.com/N6wGvpmeEm
— Jhay 🏴 (@NotImJhay) January 11, 2023
All speed runs from the AGDQ 2023 have been saved and can be viewed on the Games Done Quick YouTube channel. The highest single donation of the event was $100,000, and the median donation amount was $25, showcasing the game’s enduring popularity with the wider gaming community. Games Done Quick has raised over $43 million since its first event in 2010.
AGDQ 2023 is also notable for being the final event under founder Mike Uyama, who will step down from his position after 13 years. Games Done Quick’s next event will be its winter all-women speedrunning marathon, Frost Fatales, which will take place February 26-March 4, 2023, followed by Summer Games Done Quick 2023, which will be held in person between May 28 and June 4.
