Speedrunning charity event Awesome Games Done Quick is back in-person this year. AGDQ 2024 has locked its dates and locale for January 14 through 21 at the Wyndham Hotel and Resorts in Pittsburgh, PA.
Though Games Done Quick has hosted a few in-person events since it was pushed online by COVID-19, last year’s Awesome Games Done Quick called off its in-person Florida event. At the time, organizers cited both “continued disregard” for COVID-19 dangers and increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals as reasons for taking the event online instead.
Now, AGDQ 2024 is gearing up to run this January in downtown Pittsburgh instead. The charity event is still largely the one you probably know of by now, too. For one week, 24 hours a day, speedrunners will demonstrate all the unique and intriguing ways they navigate games as fast as possible. All of it takes place live, both in-person and online through GDQ’s Twitch channel.
Speedrun for charity
AGDQ 2024 is also keeping with its traditional charity partner, the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The winter fundraiser supports PCF, while the Summer Games Done Quick event backs Doctors Without Borders.
Donations open during the week of, and more info, including runners and scheduling, will likely arrive between now and January.
It’s good to see AGDQ returning to in-person events after last year’s online move, though. The online era of GDQ was, by all means, one of the more successful pandemic-era shifts to remote broadcasting. It also opened up avenues for interesting runs that weren’t previously feasible, either, due to location or logistics. Some of that has even bled over into the events as they’ve gone back in-person.
But hearing the crowd get involved and the energy of those gatherings is a big piece of the GDQ appeal. Especially on the final day, it’s always fun to hear the laughs, cheers, and whatever shout-outs manage to pop up over the week. I’ll be looking forward to all of that this coming January.
