At the start of Patrick Lope and Nicholas Mross’s formulaic but informative documentary Running with Speed (2023), Summoning Salt-a speedrunning historian who serves as the film’s narrator-says that “some find beauty in what we do, others find it a colossal waste of time.” While the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle, it is through watching GDQ’s streams that it is easiest to get a clear sense of not just why speedrunners enjoy speedrunning but also why so many people love to watch them at work. This year’s winter edition, Awesome Games Done Quick 2023-which, like the last few events, took place entirely online-was the first one that I “attended.” By watching fastidiously, I wanted to try to understand speedrunning’s allure. In 2021, to address gender imbalances in the scene that are evident to anyone who has seen a GDQ stream, a parallel event for women, Frame Fatales, was launched, also held twice a year. This marathon event has been organized twice annually every year since, livestreaming from Maryland, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, and Florida to viewers around the world and raising more than 40 million dollars for partner charities Prevent Cancer and Doctors Without Borders. This test-a broadcast of both the group’s gameplay and their surrounding camaraderie, sitting together on a sofa attempting to break records in real time-created the aesthetic and logistical foundation for a larger event, Games Done Quick (GDQ). After the Wi-Fi in his planned conference venue proved inadequate, Uyama gathered the group of players in his mom’s basement, broadcasting their playthroughs on a dedicated web page and raising $10,000 for the humanitarian charity CARE through viewer donations. In January 2010, speedrunning enthusiast Mike Uyama decided, after a few successful meetups, to host a marathon event showing off the skills of the best speedrunners while also raising money for charitable causes.
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