The past few weeks and months have been a time of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety for many. The effects of the global pandemic have taken their toll on everyone in various ways, from the people who are self-isolating in their homes, to the people who are now unemployed, to the medical professionals putting themselves at the frontlines.
Over the weekend, however, Games Done Quick and over 50 speedrunners got together for a marathon, Corona Relief Done Quick (CRDQ), in order to raise money for Direct Relief with the intent to help provide resources to the health workers on the frontlines responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games Done Quick team is best known for its annual events, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), where it regularly raises multiple millions of dollars over the course of a week. However, in recent years, they have expanded beyond these two yearly events. They have included new, smaller events which they have dubbed Games Done Quick Express (GDQx) as well as an occasional impromptu marathon such as last weekend’s CRDQ.
While a big part of the GDQ events over the years has become the convention-style aspects, such as having hundreds of people in a live audience and the runners being able to meet face-to-face, the impromptu nature and the realities of the pandemic meant that this marathon had to be handled remotely. It is a stark reminder of the new “normal” in which we currently live, but at the same time, it is a symbol that even though we may be physically separated, we are not alone nor are we completely helpless. Over the course of the marathon, which ran approximately 60 hours total, $400k was raised for Direct Relief.
With an average viewership of 27,000 concurrent viewers, over 50,000 peak concurrent viewers, and over 2.2 million total views, CRDQ and the GDQ team put together a weekend event that served several functions. The most important function, and the main point of the event, was raising money for the COVID-19 relief efforts of course. However, a secondary and entirely coincidental function that the event served was that of a morale booster. Seeing an event like CRDQ though gives us an opportunity: an opportunity to be entertained, an opportunity to get together virtually, and an opportunity and means to help when you may not have had another means to do so.
Corona Relief Done Quick may be over, but if you still would like to donate to Direct Relief, you can do so at their website.
