Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) 2026 has wrapped up, and once again, the speedrunning community has delivered. This year’s marathon closed out with a final total of $2,408,901 raised for Doctors Without Borders, also known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Held at the Hilton Minneapolis Downtown from July 5 to July 11, the week-long event brought together speedrunners, commentators, and around 2,500 in-person attendees, along with thousands more watching live on Twitch and YouTube.
A Steady Result That Keeps the Streak Alive
The final number puts SGDQ 2026 roughly in line with recent Games Done Quick events. It closely matches the $2.4 million raised at January’s Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2026 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, as well as last year’s Summer Games Done Quick 2025 total for Doctors Without Borders.
What makes this year’s total notable is how it came together. Going into the final day, the marathon was sitting below $1.5 million. A late surge of donations pushed the event past the $2 million mark and unlocked a pair of incentive runs, including a Super Dram World 3 run and a blindfolded Simon boss fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Those final pushes made the difference between a modest total and another multimillion-dollar result.
Donations counted toward the final tally came from several sources: direct contributions through the Games Done Quick website, Twitch’s charity donation extension, and purchases made through GDQ’s retail partners, including Fangamer, The Yetee, and Humble Bundle.
Standout Moments From the Marathon
Beyond the fundraising numbers, SGDQ 2026 delivered plenty of memorable moments for the speedrunning community. Highlights from the week included a world-record run in Kirby Air Riders, a run of Balatro that pushed the game’s systems in unexpected ways, and several viral moments that spread quickly across social media during the live broadcasts.
The schedule leaned into GDQ’s trademark mix of the familiar and the offbeat. Alongside modern titles like Elden Ring, Pragmata, and The Evil Within 2, runners tackled older and more obscure games, including a Sega CD title based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Other games featured across the week included Wii Sports and Tetris, along with an all-bosses co-op run of Elden Ring designed to fit the game into a tighter time slot.
Outside of the main stage, the event also featured panels, community rooms, vendor booths, and hands-on game demos for attendees who made the trip to Minneapolis in person.
The Cause Behind the Marathon
All funds raised during Summer Games Done Quick 2026 go directly to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides independent, impartial medical humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict, disasters, disease outbreaks, and limited access to healthcare.
During the event, attendees were shown a short documentary highlighting MSF’s ongoing work supporting the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, giving the marathon’s fundraising a direct, visible connection to the organization’s current efforts on the ground.
Games Done Quick has partnered with Doctors Without Borders multiple times over its history, alongside other causes such as the Prevent Cancer Foundation, Malala Fund, Race Forward, and the National Women’s Law Center. With this year’s total added in, Games Done Quick has now raised more than $60 million for charity since its founding in 2010.
What’s Next for Games Done Quick
The Games Done Quick calendar doesn’t slow down after SGDQ wraps. Several events are already lined up:
- Games Done Quick at Gamescom – GDQ’s first appearance at the Gamescom event, with a weekend schedule already announced.
- Flame Fatales 2026 – Running September 13–19, this event spotlights women and femmes in speedrunning, with games including Resident Evil Requiem, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and Slay the Spire 2 on the schedule.
- Games Done Queer – Returning for its second event on the weekend of October 3–4.
- Black in a Flash – Coming back for Black History Month, running February 4–7, following a successful Juneteenth event.
- Awesome Games Done Quick 2027 – Heading to Atlanta, GA for the first time, scheduled for January 3–10, 2027.
Looking further ahead, next year’s Summer Games Done Quick will return to Minneapolis, running June 20–26, 2027.
Final Thoughts
Summer Games Done Quick 2026 is another reminder of what the speedrunning community can accomplish when it comes together for a cause. Between the late-event donation surge, the record-setting runs, and the direct connection to MSF’s humanitarian work, this year’s event kept GDQ’s fundraising streak firmly on track.
With more events already scheduled through early 2027, Games Done Quick shows no signs of slowing down — and neither does the community that keeps showing up to support it.
