For many, video gaming can be seen as just another hobby or a fun form of media entertainment. But for plenty of others, it has presented a way to give back to their communities – local, national, and global – through charities. Two of the biggest charity gaming events are Games Done Quick and Extra Life.

Games Done Quick started in humble fashion – in one gamer’s basement. The initial event, called “Classic Games Done Quick,” had intended to be hosted during the course of MAGFest in 2010; however, due to internet issues at the MAGFest venue, the gamers ended up relocating to a local participant’s basement. However, it still raised more than $10,000 for charity.

In accordance to the event’s name, Games Done Quick featured speedrunning through video games. Speedrunning a video game is the act of completing a game as fast as humanly possible. Most games are divided into categories for speedrunning such as “Any %” or “100%” runs. Typical GDQ events involve a week-long, nonstop speedrun marathon with a large number of different game runners and games featured. The audience – both in person and online – is encouraged to donate via the event’s specific links in order to give to the chosen charity for the event.

Typically speaking, Awesome Games Done Quick is held in January and benefits the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The 2017 and 2018 events both totaled in excess of $2.2 million each. Summer Games Done Quick began in 2011, and since 2013 has benefitted Doctors Without borders; the 2018 event raised $2.1 million. A handful of special marathons have also been held over the years, such as weekend-long events to help benefit tsunami relief efforts in Japan, the AbleGamers Foundation, and the Houston Food Bank. The most recent special event was Games Done Quick Express, held during TwitchCon on October 26-28, 2018, which raised more than $137,000 and was divided among a handful of different charities.

Games Done Quick has largely been successful due to the easy nature in which it is viewed – via Twitch and other streaming services – and because speedruns are often fascinating to watch as entertainment, as the runners themselves are often able to essentially break the game’s code in order to do things that the developers had not intended to happen. GDQ also partners with online retailers such as The Yetee for special event-focused shirts and other swag that audience members can purchase for themselves, with proceeds going to the event’s chosen charity.

While Games Done Quick aims to do things… well, quickly, Extra Life is about stretching yourself to your limits and marathoning a gaming session for a full 24 hours. Extra Life was founded in 2008 by the owners of the Sarcastic Gamer community, and was created to honor Victoria Enmon, a young girl who passed away after a lengthy battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. During her time spent in the hospital, Enmon helped pass the time by playing video games – many of which were donated from around the world, thanks to the word that had been put out by Sarcastic Gamer.

Since 2010, Extra Life has directly benefitted the Children’s Miracle Network of hospitals, which benefits sick and injured kids in the U.S. and Canada. While the initial group of gamers were just a few hundred participants, today the total amount of people raising funds during Extra Life exceeds 50,000 participants.

A big upside to Extra Life is how anyone is able to have their own marathon and raise for their chosen local hospital. Anyone can participate in Extra Life simply by signing up for an account and raising funds. Usually there is a dedicated “game day” for Extra Life – often the first Saturday in November – though many people opt to choose their own date to host their gaming marathon. With the rise of live streaming sites like Twitch, it’s become even more popular to participate, as gamers are able to show off what they’re doing on their Twitch or YouTube channel.

These streaming sites and social media have helped increase both the number of participants as well as the number of people watching Extra Life marathons.

“I got into Extra Life by word of mouth primarily,” Tom Fulgione said. “It had been going on since 2008, but I only really noticed it in 2015 when I saw friends advertising it on Facebook. This was at a time when the medium of social gaming was moving from YouTube to Twitch. I had donated to game stream charity in the past, but I liked the idea of being able to set an event themed around one game – and I was surprised when fans of that game showed up [to watch] in tons of numbers.”

Fulgione said he was surprised by the level of engagement he could do via Extra Life and was moved by what the community was able to come together to accomplish. Since 2008, Extra Life at large has been able to raise more than $40 million.

“It was a really powerful thing to take my initial plan of donating about $150 out of my own pocket to this cause, and instead having that donation doubled, tripled, and then to hit over a $1,000. That something as simple as playing something I loved and would have done for free was directly converted into helping causes I cared about – it meant a lot to me that all a person needed was drive to make a difference,” he said. “I’m not a professional gamer, nor am I a famous personality, but I felt I was able to make a difference and give back to others by just being there and caring.”

Whether running a marathon themselves or simply giving to another, it’s become clear over the last decade or so that the video game community is one willing to go the distance when it comes to charity. Though maybe not as visible as a standard 5K run or bake sale, video game marathons have proven to be a viable resource for charities and are a powerful way for nerds of all ages to help out their fellow fan.