Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2025 officially concluded on January 12th, raising over $2.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The week-long speedrunning charity event, which took place in Pittsburgh, PA, was streamed 24/7 from January 5-12 on Games Done Quick’s Twitch channel. Over 2,000 in-person attendees attended, and tens of thousands watched online, as the livestream routinely ranked among the most-watched on Twitch.
Speedrunners attended from around the world, racing through a bevy of games new and old, often with zany incentives and challenges to drive donations. Some of the most head-turning speedruns included a full-blown live concert during Crazy Taxi, Dr. Doot playing Elden Ring with a saxophone as a controller, and an opera performance by trained singer Xem after completing his Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando run.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Rounding things out was FunkopotamusWes’s playthrough of New Super Mario Bros. Wii using his head and feet via motion controls while playing piano. Nearing the end of the run, he amazed the roaring crowd with his ultimate multi-tasking skills by doing all of the above, but now blindfolded.
There were countless side-splitting goofy moments, even during the late hours of the night. The “Awful Block,” which included speedrunners rushing through terrible games, was particularly popular, as BradHarmar played through the notorious Superman 64 and KingJO444 played the ever-strange Golf With Your Grandmother.
The week-long marathon concluded in the early hours of Sunday morning with a strong run of Super Metroid. For anyone who may have missed AGDQ 2025, every run is archived on the official Games Done Quick YouTube channel.
What does Games Done Quick do?
Games Done Quick organizes video game speedrunning marathons. These events feature high-level gameplay by speedrunners raising money for charity. In its 15-year history, Games Done Quick has teamed up with several charities.
Since 2010, Games Done Quick has raised more than $54 million for charities worldwide, including Doctors Without Borders, Prevent Cancer Foundation, Malala Fund, Organization for Autism Research, and more. GDQ’s next events are already on the horizon.
Held online through February 6-9, Back to Black is the first all-Black speedrunning charity event, hosted by GDQ’s Black speedrunning community Black in a Flash and benefiting racial justice nonprofit Race Forward. Shortly after is Frost Fatales, held online from March 9-16, an all-women and femmes speedrunning showcase benefitting the National Women’s Law Center. And finally, from July 6-12, Summer Games Done Quick returns to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders.
More About This Year’s Charity Selection
Despite its prevalence, cancer is still incredibly hard to prevent and detect. Groups like the Prevent Cancer Foundation are here to help. This group is the only U.S.-based nonprofit organization solely dedicated to cancer prevention and early detection. Through research, education, outreach and advocacy, the organization has helped countless people avoid a cancer diagnosis or detect their cancer early enough to be successfully treated. They are driven by a vision of a world where cancer is preventable, detectable and beatable for all.
The Foundation is rising to meet the challenge of reducing cancer deaths by 40% by 2035. To achieve this, the group is committed to investing $20 million in innovative technologies to detect cancer early and advance multi-cancer screening, $10 million to expand cancer screening and vaccination access to medically underserved communities, and $10 million to educate the public about screening and vaccination options.
As medicine and treatment become more difficult for families to access, this group is doing what it can to move the needle forward in getting to the heart of cancer research.
