Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), the first GDQ event of 2023, has concluded with over $3.74 million AUD raised for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
This article has been updated to reflect money raised in Australian dollars rather than in US dollars.
The speedrunning event, which began in 2010, ran from January 8th to January 15th and consisted of 150 speedruns of various titles. Over the course of the week, the speedruns garnered more than $3.74 million AUD for the Prevent Cancer Foundation with Games Done Quick’s total contributions to various charities since 2010 now exceeding $61 million AUD.
This year’s AGDQ is the third year in a row that the winter (summer over here) speedrunning marathon has been venueless, with the past two years being due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this year following Florida’s “continued disregard for COVID-19’s dangers (including anti-mandate policies) and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals” leading the organisers to cancel their venue contract.
That being said, the decision to remain as a virtual event did not stump AGDQ’s success in 2023. Not only did they raise a whole lot of money, but they also managed to break four separate world records in speedrunning. Here are the world record-breaking speedruns in question.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Speedrun type: Co-op Any% Arcade Old Patch
Speedrunners: Benja and Paul-Knives
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Speedrun type: Any% with Bank Run
Speedrunner: ImJhay
PowerWash Simulator
Speedrun type: 6 Players, All Vehicles, No Soap
Speedrunners: Amyrlinn, Bullets, Biglaw, Enigma Requiem, AngelicKnight, and Acadiel
Steven Seagal Is: The Final Option (Prototype)
Speedrun type: Any% 9 Exits
Speedrunner: Crak Atak
The end of this year’s AGDQ also comes with the announcement of Summer Games Done Quick returning with a date of May 28th to June 4th, 2023. As for the next Games Done Quick, their winter all-women speedrunning event Frost Fatales will be taking place from February 26th to March 4th, 2023 on Twitch.
Were there any speedruns at the 2023 AGDQ that really stood out to you this year? I personally loved the Cult of the Lamb run, but I might be a little biased. The PowerWash Simulator speedrun is also a LOT of fun. If you’ve got some time to waste and want to catch up on the speedruns of last week, you can check them out on the GDQ YouTube channel.
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