Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 raises $2.6 million for charity

With its first event of 2023 in the books, GDQ’s Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) has raised more than $2.6 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Following more than a week of some of the world’s best speedrunners showing off their skills, AGDQ 2023 saw 21,527 donors give an average of $66.35. While the event fell short of the record-breaking $3.4 million AGDQ 2022 collected for charity almost exactly a year ago, AGDQ 2023 saw one $100,000 donation. In one of the marathon’s more memorable moments, one also player set a new world record in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

For the third year in a row, AGDQ took place entirely online. The event was initially scheduled to take place in Flordia in front of a live audience. However, organizers eventually decided against that plan due to the state’s COVID-19 policies and “increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals.”

AGDQ 2023 also marked the final event for Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama. “I realized that I need to take care of my health and kind of focus on different activities,” he told The Verge before the start of this month’s marathon. During Uyama’s 13 years at GDQ, the organization raised more than $41 million for charity. Pretty good for an event that started in a basement. You can watch all the speedruns from AGDQ 2023 on GDQ’s YouTube channel. The organization’s next major event will take place in the spring when Summer Games Done Quick kicks off on May 28th. Last year, the event raised more than $3 million for Doctors Without Borders.