Players raised more than $2.5 million for charities by playing seven days straight

It’s a myth that gaming is a waste of time, and a large group of gamers are trying to prove it to the world.

GDQ is one of the largest charity events in the world, raising millions for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders every year.

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With two events held every year, the mid-year event, Summer Games Done Quick, has just concluded, raising over $2.5 million (£2 million) for charity.

The week-long speedrunning event featured more than 140 games played over nearly 168 hours throughout the event.

Speedrunning is completing a game as quickly as possible, which means more games can be completed in a shorter amount of time.

For example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time takes an average of 30 hours to complete, but was completed at the event in less than 20 minutes.

In addition to finishing games, the event also includes a series of 100% or full completion races, hard game challenge races, and one-off races, including a dog playing in Major League Baseball.

The event was streamed via Twitch throughout the week, and each race was then uploaded to YouTube.

People donate throughout the week, with incentives such as increasing game difficulty or adding bonus games depending on how much money is donated.

It’s not the largest amount ever donated during the event, as GDQ has raised more than $3 million across multiple events.

However, SGDQ 2024 is a landmark event as it marks more than $50 million (£40 million) raised for charity since the event began in 2010.

Games Done Quick will return in January 2025 for the next event, but all previous GDQ runs can be watched on the GDQ YouTube channel.

If you want to read more about gaming, check out our Zenless Zone Zero review.