This past Sunday saw the conclusion of the week-long Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 which saw the speedrunning marathon charity event raise a grand total of $2,644,770.41 over the last seven days with the funds going mostly towards the Prevent Cancer Foundation, according to the event organizer, Games Done Quick in a tweet.
Getting into the stats, Games Done Quick’s first event of the year saw 39,857 donations via 21,519 donors from January 8th through the 15th, including a single donation of exactly $100,000 which happened when speedrunning player, NotImJhay set a new record of 2:54:50 in Super Mario Galaxy 2 (5 seconds faster then the previous record). While the event raised a fantastic amount of money for charity, this year’s event did not eclipse last year’s record-breaking 3.4 million from last year’s AGDQ 2022 but either way the event led to a total accumulated fundraising figure of $43 million for all the events that have been hosted until now, according to Kotaku.
In case you missed it or want to see it again (who wouldn't??), BIG GGs to @NotImJhay for getting the WR in Super Mario Galaxy 2! GGs to HardcoreGaming, @SuperT302, and MutantsAbyss for the great race as well, whew! #AGDQ2023 pic.twitter.com/vQgCluJ9rP
— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) January 10, 2023
Like past events during the pandemic, this is the third year in a row where Awesome Games Done Quick has taken place solely online but that wasn’t the initial plan for the event as it was scheduled to take place in a live audience in Florida but was ultimately cancelled due to the states COVID-19 policies and “increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals.” Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 was also an end of an era for Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama as this was the last event for him as an organizer which all started in his mother’s basement in 2010.
“So Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 marks my 13th year of GDQ. I’ve been at it for a long time, and I decided it was time for me to take a break. I realized that I need to take care of my health and kind of focus on different activities,” Games Done Quick founder Mike Uyama said in an interview with The Verge.
Overtaking the event as owner and managing director is director of operations Matt Merkle, the next event on the schedule is Summer Games Done Quick 2023 which is set to take place from May 28th through June 4th.
