Summer Games Done Quick 2024 Proves There Are Still Positive Videogame Communities

Videogame conventions are a dime a dozen nowadays, but the Games Done Quick events stand out above the rest. The biannual, week-long, 24/7 speedrunning marathons have become like a biannual, week-long, 24/7 holiday to me and thousands of other fans.

The first Games Done Quick event took place in 2010, but the first one I was exposed to must have been around 2016. I ran across some news article saying the speedrunning event was taking place, I clicked the link to the Twitch stream, and I was hooked. I would stay up late watching all the runs I could, and the first thing I would do when I woke up was turn the stream back on.

Three years later, I was able to attend my first Games Done Quick event at Summer Games Done Quick 2019, thanks to a press pass courtesy of Game Informer, where I was interning at the time. The stream on my phone came alive in front of my eyes, and I got to yell and clap along with the rest of the audience as incredibly talented speedrunners tore apart my favorite games.

Five years after that, I finally came back for Summer Games Done Quick 2024. A lot has happened since then, most notably a pandemic that forced the events to online-only marathons for a number of years. However, the energy, passion and excitement everyone had for this highly specific way of engaging with the medium of videogames was exactly the same as it was when I first stepped into the hotel hosting the event in 2019, as well as when I first clicked the link to the Twitch stream even before then.

Kicking off the entire marathon was a name even non-speedrunning fans may have heard of: Dan Salvato. Most famous for creating the dating sim visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club which eventually breaks down into a horror game, Salvato had been dedicating his time to speedrunning Yoshi’s Story since 2013, four years before his debut game skyrocketed his popularity online.

Also over the past 11 years, Salvato had submitted his run of Yoshi’s Story to Games Done Quick in hopes of being selected to run the game for the marathon nearly every time there was an event. After countless rejections over the past decade, he was finally selected to show off one of his favorite childhood games.

“I finally got in, and I was incredibly nervous for it,” Salvato said. “It’s like this one shot that I get after so many years of build up. And walking away from it, I had a lot of fun, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the mistakes I made during the run. I think that very quickly changed when there were all these people that reached out to me or came up to me and told me how much fun they had and how good the commentary was and how it was really entertaining and really cool to watch and all of these really positive messages. I think that helped shift my perspective for the better because I got an understanding of what other people saw me do, as opposed to what I saw myself do, which is always going to be focused on the mistakes. I realized that everyone had a really great time. And at the core of it, I got to show off what I wanted to show off, which is just the whole game. And so I’ve been able to leave it off as a really fun and happy memory.”

Salvato said that despite his fame as the person behind Doki Doki Literature Club, his game took a backseat to his run of Yoshi’s Story that week, with fans congratulating him on the run and mainly only mentioning his game in passing. Although he said he’s never offended for being known as the Doki Doki Literature Club guy, Salvato said it was nice to be appreciated for something other than that work.

Salvato not only creates and speedruns games, but he also mods and plays competitively in them as well, having contributed to the “Project M” mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl while also having been a competitive Smash Bros. player. He said each way he engages with videogames can influence the others.

“Drawing a parallel to speedrunning, there are areas in games where we find fun where you wouldn’t expect there to be fun,” Salvato said. “And that’s something that’s really important to me: asking the question of how players have fun with the game. It’s a very fundamental, almost philosophical question, but I think it’s really important to think about when working on a game.”

Although there are speedruns out there of Doki Doki Literature Club, Salvato said runs of visual novels aren’t typically very interesting and he’s never watched any. With his upcoming game, Magicore Anomala, he hopes to create a challenging but rewarding gameplay loop that he is much more excited to see speedruns of. The game will be designed for the Amiga, a personal computer from 1985, but will also be ported to modern platforms via emulation.

Earlier this year at Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 in January, the first non-human (well, other than TASbot) ran a game at the marathon: a dog named Peanut Butter. Trained by James Stephens, going by the username JSR_, and his friend who goes by the username “Crispy072003” (“Crispy” for short), the four-year-old shiba inu stole the hearts of thousands when he completed a run of Gyromite for the NES remotely from his home.

Because of the amount of focus needed for Peanut Butter to run a game, Stephens assumed performing remotely was the only viable way to be a part of the marathon. However, after an entire crew from IGN filmed the dog speedrunning without many issues, he changed his mind and decided to bring Peanut Butter to Summer Games Done Quick 2024 in person.

The run of Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB for the SNES had a simple goal: win a game against the computer opponent. Sitting in front of a table with three giant buttons built with the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Stephens would calmly say “button” the moment when Peanut Butter needed to hit or pitch the ball, rewarding him with a little treat each time he got the timing right. The game was neck and neck, going into extra innings, but Peanut Butter pulled out on top. More than any other run I saw that week, the energy and excitement from the audience was indescribable.

“It honestly couldn’t have gotten any better than it did. I mean, we talked about what the best case scenario would be, and it wasn’t far off,” Stephens said. “It still doesn’t feel real. I remember just standing there, looking around and trying to take it in that those people were there for, well, technically for [Peanut Butter], but for us. I’m not really sure how to describe it. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It still doesn’t feel real. He’s a star. And I think that’s why I can’t comprehend it. I’m not the star. He is, truthfully, and I’m OK with that because I’m very, very proud of him and I kind of like it that I can experience it vicariously.”

“Bark!” Peanut Butter said.

(Peanut Butter was compensated with a treat in exchange for his comment. I was told not to do this kind of thing in my ethics in journalism class, but like, come on.)

Since 2013, Summer Games Done Quick has raised money through donations for Doctors Without Borders, whereas Awesome Games Done Quick events have raised funds for the Prevent Cancer Foundation since 2011. This most recent marathon saw a substantial milestone reached, with over $50 million raised for all charities the events have benefitted combined.

The humanitarian work Doctors Without Borders does has always been critical. However, with this being the first Summer Games Done Quick event to take place since Oct. 7, 2023, when an attack by Hamas prompted Israel to escalate an ongoing genocide on the people of Gaza, the need for humanitarian aid has only grown more dire. 

Of course, Doctors Without Borders is one of many humanitarian organizations, and the millions of dollars raised by Summer Games Done Quick each year is a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars raised for the organization annually. Still, the contributions raised from the event are enough to make a real impact on the people of Gaza and around the world.

During an on-stage interview conducted by Summer Games Done Quick staff with Amy Leah Potter, who works for Doctors Without Borders as a nurse, Potter talked about her time working in Gaza. She gave general information about the number of deaths and atrocious living conditions while also telling anecdotes not only about the level of human suffering, but also about how the work Doctors Without Borders was able to help some of the population gain access to essentials such as drinking water, food and medical care.

“(Doctors Without Borders) is known for being neutral, and I know some people aren’t sure of that, but if you actually listen to anything that comes out of (Doctors Without Borders), we don’t take sides,” Potter said. “We will ask for a ceasefire, which we always ask for. We need a ceasefire desperately.”

The audience gave a loud cheer of support in response to Potter’s call for a ceasefire.

Greta Doucette was part of the in-person team representing Doctors Without Borders at Summer Games Done Quick 2024. As a marketing senior associate for peer-to-peer and streaming programs, they are responsible for coordinating with different events that benefit Doctors Without Borders, from smaller ones like birthday parties and weddings to the biggest single fundraising event for the organization, Summer Games Done Quick.

“There’s a huge shortage of medical supplies, fuel, and water (in Gaza) right now. And so our staff is on the ground, trying to help patients as best as they can, while their hospitals are under attack as well. The supply shortages are pushing some of our hospitals to a breaking point,” Doucette said. “(Doctors Without Borders) was already in Gaza, and so when everything started eight months ago, we were able to act so quickly because we have been there.”

Although they aren’t a speedrunner, Doucette said they love videogames like Animal Crossing, Spiritfarer and Stardew Valley, the last of which they have thousands of hours in. If they were to try speedrunning any game, Doucette said it would be that one, perhaps trying to get married in the game as fast as possible.

One common refrain at all Games Done Quick events has been “trans rights,” from runners, commentators, donation messages and even crowd chants. There is a strong trans community within the speedrunning community, and Games Done Quick has worked to make its events a positive space for LGBTQ+ people. At Summer Games Done Quick 2024, a pride flag hung prominently onstage for the entire week.

This year, another refrain was added to “trans rights”: “Free Palestine.”

It’s already amazing and inspiring that so many people from different places can come together to run games like Super Mario Bros. and Birds Aren’t Real: The Game with inhuman levels of skill, sometimes blindfolded, having never seen the game they’re playing before or even being a dog. But what makes this more than a fun community event is that everybody is doing this to make the world a better place. 

Each year, attendees, runners, staff and those watching online donate millions of collective dollars, not to mention countless volunteer hours, to somehow turn backwards-long-jumps and frame cancellations into actual, tangible impacts on some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

The videogame-playing and making community at large might be full of toxic, abusive people, but over the past 14 years, Games Done Quick has built a community full of not only talented, but accepting and generous people who have collectively raised over $50 million for different charities.

I can’t wait to see that number get to $100 million.

Joseph Stanichar is a freelance writer who specializes in videogames and pop culture. He’s written for publications such as Game Informer, Twinfinite and Looper. He’s on Twitter @JosephStanichar.