What is Games Done Quick?

Games Done Quick is a twice-a-year charity speedrunning marathon on Twitch where players finish video games as fast as possible to raise money for humanitarian causes like Doctors Without Borders.

Where did Games Done Quick come from?

The marathon grew out of the speedrunning community and jumped from small early events into seven-figure territory, with AGDQ 2018 setting a record of $2.26 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

What does Games Done Quick mean?

The name refers to finishing video games as fast as possible, a discipline called speedrunning where players use route optimisation, glitches, and memory tricks that commentators explain live from the couch.

How do you use Games Done Quick?

Fans typically tune in on the GamesDoneQuick Twitch channel during a marathon week and donate to unlock alternate character names, bonus categories, or raffle entries during runs.

Is Games Done Quick still popular?

Through 2018 the marathons kept setting fresh totals, with AGDQ 2018 raising a record $2.26 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

What charities does GDQ support?

Awesome Games Done Quick in January benefits the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Summer Games Done Quick, held mid-year, benefits Doctors Without Borders.

Where was AGDQ 2018 held?

AGDQ 2018 took place at the Hilton Washington Dulles from January 7 to 14, 2018.

Where was SGDQ 2018 held?

SGDQ 2018 ran at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington, Minnesota from June 24 to July 1, drawing over 2,200 attendees in person.

Why did GDQ split with a group of speedrunners in 2018?

Screenshots of a private Discord in late 2018 contained transphobic and antisemitic language from speedrunners including R. White Goose and Graviton, and GDQ said the group would no longer represent the organisation at events.

Games Done Quick

2010eventclassic

Published August 24, 2026

Games Done Quick is a semi-annual charity speedrunning marathon streamed on Twitch, where players finish video games as quickly as possible to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. Started in January 2010, the marathon grew from a $10,000 pilot into seven-figure record breakers, with AGDQ 2018 pulling in $2.26 million.

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Overview

Games Done Quick (GDQ) is a charity speedrunning marathon where video game players finish titles as quickly as possible while streaming to Twitch, with more than $10 million raised for humanitarian nonprofits between 2010 and 20186. The two flagship weeks are Awesome Games Done Quick in January, benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation2, and Summer Games Done Quick in the middle of the year, benefiting Doctors Without Borders1. Each marathon takes over a hotel ballroom and runs around the clock with more than a hundred back-to-back speedruns.

Behind the player is a couch team of commentators who explain the glitches, memory tricks, and route choices that let speedrunners rip games apart in a fraction of their intended playtime3. Income comes from viewer donations, prize giveaways, bid wars for character names, and optional challenges the runner has to hit if a funding threshold is crossed5. Every completed run then gets uploaded to the GamesDoneQuick YouTube channel, so anyone who missed the live show can still watch entire categories at their own pace4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitch (livestream) / speedrunning community

Creator

Speedrunning community

Date

2010

The first Games Done Quick marathon happened in January 2010 and pulled in just over $10,000 for the disaster-relief nonprofit CARE6. The following January the winter event grew to more than $50,000 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and an August 2011 marathon inaugurated the Summer Games Done Quick brand with $20,000 raised for the Organisation of Autism Research6. From those early four- and five-figure hauls, GDQ jumped into seven-figure territory within a few years and settled into a twice-a-year rhythm on the speedrunning calendar.

How It Spread

AGDQ 2017 pushed the marathon into seven figures, with viewers donating $2.2 million and turning it into a January fixture of the gaming calendar5. AGDQ 2018 ran January 7 through 14 at the Hilton Washington Dulles and set a fresh record of $2,263,373 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, about $40,000 up on the year before2. The single largest donation that week was $108,092.32, a self-donation the organisers cut using money pooled from Twitch subscribers to the event's own channel2.

Summer Games Done Quick 2018 ran June 24 to July 1 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington, Minnesota, drew more than 2,200 attendees in person, and raised $2,122,529.20 for Doctors Without Borders, a fresh SGDQ record1. Both marathons streamed on the GamesDoneQuick Twitch channel and were followed by a complete YouTube upload of every run for viewers who missed the live broadcast4.

Later in 2018 GDQ announced a smaller offshoot called Games Done Quick Express for TwitchCon at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose from October 26 to 28, with proceeds routed to the charities in TwitchCon's Charity Plaza1. The organisers also locked in Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 for Rockville, Maryland, from January 6 to 13, keeping the twice-a-year cadence going1.

How to Use This Meme

Getting involved usually means either submitting a speedrun to the marathon schedule or watching along on Twitch and donating during the event5. Donations often unlock things like alternate character names for the run in progress, save-file wipes, or bonus categories, and viewers can also enter raffles or bid on auction prizes such as signed hardware5. Commentary on the couch typically explains what the runner is doing frame by frame so newcomers can follow along even if they've never touched the game3.

Cultural Impact

Individual runs at GDQ marathons became mainstream gaming news in their own right. During AGDQ 2018, streamer CarcinogenSDA cleared Resident Evil 7 on the game's brutal Madhouse difficulty in a New Game run that Kotaku called a masterclass in improvisation, side-stepping monsters and rerouting on the fly after enemy 'sucker punch' spawns nearly killed him3. Ars Technica later singled out the Summer Games Done Quick Super Mario Bros. 3 'all forts' race for a mid-run exploit near the end that reshaped the outcome in a way neither runner saw coming4.

The marathon has also had to handle community controversies as it has grown. At AGDQ 2017, couch commentator PvtCinnamonBun was banned from future GDQ events after event enforcer Klaige said he was accused of wearing a Make America Great Again hat during a run of Ape Escape 2, in violation of a policy asking participants to avoid polarising topics5. In late 2018, screenshots of a private Discord surfaced with transphobic and antisemitic remarks from speedrunners including R. White Goose and Graviton, and after initial hesitation GDQ said the group would no longer represent it at events7.

Fun Facts

AGDQ 2018 recorded fewer distinct donors than the year before but a bigger total, meaning individual viewers were opening their wallets multiple times each2

The largest single donation at AGDQ 2018 was $108,092.32, pooled from money the organisers raised through Twitch channel subscribers2

CarcinogenSDA's Resident Evil 7 Madhouse run at AGDQ 2018 required constant rerouting because the game's enemies could attack the moment they spawned in3

SGDQ 2018 drew more than 2,200 in-person attendees to the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington, Minnesota1

A group of speedrunners including R. White Goose and Graviton was pulled from AGDQ 2019 after a Discord thread with transphobic and antisemitic language went public in late 20187

Derivatives & Variations

Games Done Quick Express, a smaller charity block staged at TwitchCon 2018 in San Jose with proceeds routed to TwitchCon's Charity Plaza[1]

Flame Fatales, a marathon under the GDQ banner queued up as the organisation's next event in its SGDQ 2018 sign-off posts[1]