From April 17-19, Games Done Quick (GDQ), a charity organization that holds semiannual speedrunning events, hosted a speedrunning marathon to raise money for COVID-19 aid. The event, titled Corona Relief Done Quick, raised $400,000 in 60 hours. The money raised went to Direct Relief, which the organization notes is “a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay.”
Games Done Quick has partnered in previous years with Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. To date, they have raised over 22.3 million dollars for charity. Their events, such as Corona Relief Done Quick, are hosted on Twitch.
The games that the streamers played were not limited to an individual console. Some titles and consoles played for charity included a wide range, from Halo on PC, Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo, and Resident Evil 7 on Playstation 4 to older titles such as Kirby’s Dreamland on Gameboy and Ninja Gaiden on the NES. One of speedrunners’ most famous games was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which originally was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998.
Ocarina of Time has become one of the more commonly speedrun games because of the glitches that streamers on Twitch and other outlets continue to unearth more than two decades later. One North American runner back in January finished the game in 13 minutes, 48 seconds. They reached this incredible speed by manipulating the game’s memory itself.
On Friday, April 17 speedrunners spikevegeta and Phant raised over $10,000 in their 2 hours, 52 minutes playthrough. Throughout the speedrun, comments and donations came in from a range of viewers. One viewer, Clarinet87, thanked them for providing entertainment while she sewed masks for her fellow essential workers. Another, a scientist, donated $50 to the stream. He noted that he is working on addressing the critical shortages of PPE in his area through the development of sterilization techniques.
Events such as Corona Relief Done Quick provides a model and opportunity for those at home to contribute to fighting COVID-19 even if they are not on the front lines fighting this pandemic.
