On Friday, the charity speedrunning stream hit one million dollars for US charity Prevent Cancer Foundation. Late on Saturday night, it hit two million dollars, and the crowd went wild
Donations hit the 2mil mark during a thrilling Super Mario Odyssey speedrun. As the run time ticked towards three hours, Twitch chat began a $5 donation chain, and the donation counter began to explode.
The commentators were asking for money in all sorts of waysââdonate $5 if you love anime,â âif you think heâs slowing down⊠donate $5,â and describing certain donations in terms of what it could get them at McDonaldâs. The speedrunner, Bayleef, wasnât super keen on this last method, because after three solid hours of Marioâand being in the food-themed Lunch Kingdom at the timeâhe was probably very hungry.
It ended up being a race against the speedrunner: reach $2 million before Bayleef gets to the Darker Side of the Moon, a particularly difficult post-game level in Super Mario Odyssey that would mark the end of his run.
The audience chanted âLetâs go Twitch chatâ as the donations climbed past $1,950,000, and they began to count down from $1,980,000 by the thousand.
Bayleef hit 500 moonsâhis goal in the runâjust after the donations hit two million in a wonderful moment of synergy. AGDQ might have its share of controversy, but moments like this are what itâs really about.
Bayleefâs run ended at 3:21:12.9, and watching him bounce around The Darker Side of the Moon is almost as satisfying as hitting the $2 million mark.
AGDQ ended, as is traditional, with a Super Metroid run. There is always a donation incentive with Super Metroid: Save or Kill The Animals. This year, it was Save The Animals, so they can rest easy for another 6 months until Summer Games Done Quick.
[Update: Turns out that âKill The Animalsâ had a last-minute boost and beat âSave The Animalsâ and the world is a terrible place.]
The final total for AGDQ 2019 was $2,395,553, surpassing last yearâs total by over $100,000.
