Summer Games Done Quick raises $2.3 million for charity

Summer Games Done Quick Online
(Image credit: Games Done Quick)

The virtual speedrun-a-thon Summer Games Done Quick wrapped up this weekend with a whopping $2.3 million raised to support Doctors Without Borders, an independent organization that delivers emergency medical aid to people impacted by wars, epidemics, and disasters.

That's actually down from the previous two major GDQ events, Summer Games Done Quick 2019 and Awesome Games Done Quick in January 2020, both of which surpassed the $3 million mark. SGDQ 2020 was also online-only, however, due to the COVID-19 outbreak—and it's not as though $2.3 million is chump change. The donations earned during this year's event takes the total amount of funds raised by GDQ for charities around the world, including Doctors Without Borders, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Direct Relief, AbleGamers, and Organization for Autism Research, to more than $27 million since 2010.

If you missed any of the runs (and odds are that you did, because it ran 24/7 for the entire week), an archive is available on the GDQ YouTube channel. A few highlights include KOTOR in under 45 minutes, ALF in six minutes, Ori and the Will of the Wisps in half an hour, Dusk in under 20, and Half-Life: Alyx in 31:16, which is especially interesting because it's a VR game and thus requires a little more athleticism than most. Check it out below.

The next GDQ events, by the way, will be Fleet Fatales, running November 15-21, and Awesome Games Done Quick 2021, which will go January 3-10, 2021.

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Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.