Games Done Quick, an organization that frequently hosts speedrunning charity events, hosted a last-minute “Corona Relief Done Quick” event last weekend to raise funds for the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of the weekend, the event raised over $400,000 for Direct Relief. While Games Done Quick frequently raises millions of dollars during its major events, this was a record for one of its “side events”.

Games Done Quick runs events throughout the year, with its next charity event scheduled to take place from August 16-23 in Bloomington, MN. In its work to date, the organization has raised over $22 million for charity. Games Done Quick is currently the largest fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Speedrunning is where players try to complete games as fast as possible. While records are rarely broken for older games, the speedrunning community enjoys tearing through new games to figure out how to beat them in the fastest times. Over the 60-hour fundraiser, Games Done Quick players finished more than 100 games for the COVID-19 relief fund. All of the playthroughs are archived on the organization’s Twitch channel.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, several gaming organizations have run initiatives to raise money for charity. For example, a Twitch-hosted fundraiser called “Stream Aid” raised nearly $2.8 million for charity in March. The proceeds were donated to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Earlier this month, we wrote that Secretlab, a company that sells gaming chairs, would donate 50,000 masks to frontline medical workers and would donate an additional 200 masks for every special edition chair sold. Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends, also planned to donate $800,000 to Los Angeles’ COVID-19 relief efforts. The funds were split between the city’s food bank, the mayor’s relief effort, and local nonprofits.

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