Video game speedrunners raise more than $1 million for charity

The fourth annual Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) charity speedrunning marathon raised over $1 million for the Prevent Cancer foundation last week, blowing past the $500,000 goal set by event organizers and eclipsing the $646,000 raised in the past three marathons combined. More than 500 people showed up to stream 155 speedruns during the week-long marathon, which ran from 9 AM (PST) Sunday, January 5 to 9 AM (PST) Sunday, January 12 -- though bonus runs are still being livestreamed on the Games Done Quick website. If you missed the action, all video streamed from the event should eventually be archived on the SpeedDemosArchive YouTube and Twitch channels. Just about every run broadcast during the week is worth going back to watch, especially this sublime four-person Super Metroid race and the excellent back-to-back blindfolded speedruns of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out. The Speed Demos Archive reports that more than 27,400 donations were made by over 18,000 people during the marathon, which hit a peak viewer count of nearly 110,000. A few new speedrunning records were also set during the event, including a complete two-man playthrough of GoldenEye in 24:01. "We never imagined this event would raise $1 million to save lives through cancer prevention and early detection," said Prevent Cancer Foundation Vice President and COO Jan Breach in a press release. "It is a dream come true, and we thank this amazing group of individuals for making it a reality." A representative from the Prevent Cancer Foundation told Gamasutra via email that the foundation plans to use the donations from AGDQ 2014 to fund a two-year cancer prevention research grant, as well as community grants that will provide direct community services.