Games Done Quick (GDQ for short) is an organization that hosts fundraisers each year for charity. These events are week-long, 24/7 broadcasts of video game speedruns streamed on Twitch.
A speedrun, as the name implies, is a video game play-through with the goal of completing it as quickly as possible. GDQ’s live audience usually amounts to 100,000 concurrent viewers, and YouTube videos of the live runs can net hundreds of thousands of views.
Games Done Quick events (often called marathons) are extremely popular, raising over two million dollars at their last event, and typically are the most viewed channel on Twitch during their broadcasts with around 100,000 viewers. GDQ attracts the most talented and decorated speedrunners, so playing live on the grandest stage in speedrunning is a very unique and exclusive opportunity.
As of writing, I have ran at three GDQ events, attending and performing at one every year since 2017, playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. My debut to GDQ in January 2017 was lauded by Reddit and PCGamer, considered to be one of the very best runs from the marathon. The videos for my three appearances total to around 1,000,000 views on GDQ’s YouTube channel.
My most recent GDQ speedrun, at Awesome Games Done Quick 2019. This run has been touted as one of the best of the event.
Taking such a grand stage is never easy, the audience is enormous; and even though the audience is online, the expectations of professionalism and skill are high. A GDQ runner is expected to showcase their game in a compelling way; playing at a level of total mastery, and imparting insightful and entertaining commentary. These are all things I take into account for my GDQ runs, and I think it is a large reason of why I am invited back, and why my runs are well received.
I have also taken my talents overseas. European Speedrunner Assembly (ESA) is another speedrunning marathon, of similar format and length. In 2017, I ran Vice City once again, this time for ESA. The video for that run currently amounts to over 100,000 views.
My first live run at ESA, in 2017. In this speedrun, the goal is to complete all of Vice City‘s missions, which amounts to nonstop playing and commentary for two and a half hours.
In addition to doing a speedrun, I also did hosting shifts during the marathon with a co-host. As a host, my responsibilities were to read aloud donation comments, regular call-to-actions for donating to the sponsored charity, conducting interviews, generating hype, and, of course, being on camera.
