Summary
- Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 raised over $2.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, surpassing the 2024 total by $100,000.
- The organization's mission is focused on early cancer detection and prevention, along with funding research and outreach programs.
- The 18-minute Crazy Taxi run stole the show, raising over $24,000 in donations.
From January 5 to January 13, the Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2025 event successfully raised over $2.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, exceeding the 2024 event's total by more than $100,000. This annual winter event, hosted by Games Done Quick (GDQ), featured thrilling speedruns of popular games like Crazy Taxi, Super Metroid, and others across multiple genres.
Awesome Games Done Quick, held each January, is one of the two mainline events organized by GDQ, with the other being Summer Games Done Quick in July. Additionally, GDQ regularly hosts smaller events such as Frame Fatales and GDQ Express to keep the excitement alive between marathons. In October 2024, GDQ organized an impromptu Disaster Relief Done Quick event in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the Southeastern US. This event raised over $45,000 in just over two days for Direct Relief, a charity that provides emergency supplies, transportation, and medical response to disaster-affected areas.
As the new year began, Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 made a significant contribution to cancer research by raising over $2.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. This amount was more than $100,000 higher than the total raised during AGDQ 2024. The Prevent Cancer Foundation's mission centers on early cancer detection and prevention, as well as funding research and outreach programs. AGDQ's collaboration with the Prevent Cancer Foundation has been ongoing, with the speedrunning event contributing over $26 million to the foundation across multiple runs. AGDQ 2025 was held in Pittsburgh and started with a swift run of the Switch version of Pikmin by speedrunner Ray0ken, completed within an hour.
Awesome Games Done Quick 2025 Raises Over $2.5 Million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation
One of the standout moments of AGDQ 2025 was the run of Crazy Taxi, a beloved Dreamcast title. The game's inherent suitability for quick runs is often hindered by its copyrighted music, which poses streaming challenges due to potential Twitch takedowns. However, at AGDQ, speedrunner Chuckles825 was accompanied by a live band that performed covers of the game's music, perfectly synchronized with the gameplay. This innovative approach during the 18-minute Crazy Taxi run resulted in an impressive $24,000 in donations.
The final event of AGDQ 2025 featured a randomized, four-player race of the SNES classic Super Metroid. The race was incredibly close, with runners Eddie and Andy finishing within one second of each other. GDQ is set to return with Summer Games Done Quick 2025, scheduled for July 6 in Minneapolis, where they will raise funds for Doctors Without Borders.
