Speedrun event SGDQ raises $2.9 million for Doctors Without Borders

Summer Games Done Quick online speed run event raised $2.9 million for Doctors Without Borders this year. Well-known speedrunners finished games as quickly as possible, to raise money for that good cause.

Summer Games Done Quick 2021 Online took place between July 4 and 11. During this seven-day event, 153 speedrunners completed a game as quickly as possible. Speedrunner Bubzia completed Super Mario 64 blindfolded in 1:49:59 and ninten completed the Final Mix version of Kingdom Hearts II in approximately 3 hours and 13 minutes. All SGDQ runs can be viewed on the YouTube channel of organizer Games Done Quick.

The overview shows that 22,640 donors collectively made 40,350 individual donations. That is good for a total amount of 2,904,585 dollars. As in previous years, the event raised money for charities by allowing viewers to bid on prizes and other items.

In addition to game codes and merchandise, users could also bid on things that directly affected the speedruns. This allowed users to bid on the names of in-game characters who used speedrunners. For example, viewers donated to give the Inquisitor from Dragon Age: Inquisition the name “Bingus.”

Viewers could also contribute to donation goals. When such goals were achieved, the ‘rules’ of a speedrun were changed. For example, Sunnymuffin had to complete the bonus levels in Evergate after reaching a $5,000 donation goal, and viewers collectively donated $51,038.82 to allow the 2D platformer Celeste to play with a catgirl mod.

The organization behind Games Done Quick is also sharing data for the upcoming events. Flame Fatales will be held from August 15 to 21. That’s a women’s speedrun event. Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 will take place between January 9 and 16.

Speedrunner Bubzia completes Super Mario 64 in 1:49:59 blindfolded