Bottom line: At $2.9 million, this year’s SGDQ got close to the single-event record of $3.16 million set just before the pandemic. With any luck, perhaps the next marathon will be able to set a new all-time high for donations.
Summer Games Done Quick, the bi-annual video game speedrunning marathon for charity, wrapped up this past weekend with an impressive haul.
The event, which started on July 4 and ended a week later on July 11, raised a total of $2,902,055 for Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian medical organization that provides help to people around the globe.
Games Done Quick hosts its two flagship speedrunning marathons – Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick – at the first of the year and in mid-summer, respectively. The Covid-19 pandemic forced coordinators to restructure the events as virtual gatherings via the power of the Internet.
SGDQ 2021 was the first major event to be held online, and predictably, donations dropped significantly, from $3.03 million the year before to just $2.35 million. Support picked back up a bit with AGDQ 2021, where $2.78 million was raised for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
As for highlights, SGDQ had plenty. I'm a sucker for classic Nintendo games so runs of Super Mario Bros. 3 (co-op), Super Metroid (a three-way race) and Super Mario 64 (blindfolded) topped my must-watch list.
https://www.techspot.com/news/90390-summer-games-done-quick-raised-over-29-million.html
