AGDQ 2018 raises record $2.26m for Prevent Cancer Foundation

Charity speedrunning company Games Done Quick has set a new funding record, raising $2.26m for chosen charity the Prevent Cancer Foundation with their first event of the year, Awesome Games Done Quick 2018.

The outfit runs two events a year, with Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) running during the winter and a Summer Games Done Quick running during… you get the idea. AGDQ pulled in $2,269,209 over the course of 181 different speedruns from 32,000 donors.

The event was a mix of classic speedruns and a few new entries, with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Yooka Laylee as just some of the recent releases making an appearance, alongside classics like Contra, Disney’s Aladdin — on the Snes, naturally — and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Each of the 154 runs was tackled by volunteer speedrunners, with back to back runs between January 7 and January 14.

There’s a YouTube playlist that will contain all of the runs here, although at the time of writing it contains just 154 of the runs. More will be added soon. None of the runs are world record breaking, barring one which was currently uncontested, but if you dig a game it’s worth taking a look at a speedrunner having a crack at it to completely subvert your expectations about what’s possible in any specific game.

Summer Games Done Quick brings a return of charitable speedrunning in June.