Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2026 — January 4–10

Awesome Games Done Quick 2026 ran from January 4 to 10, broadcasting live from the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For seven straight days, the world's most skilled speedrunners tore through classic and modern games at a breathless pace, all in service of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. If you missed the live marathon, the good news is that Games Done Quick events live on well beyond their run week: every run is archived, and the format is worth understanding whether you are catching up on 2026's highlights or planning to tune in for the next one. This guide explains what AGDQ is, why it belongs on a PlayStation fan's radar, and how to watch it properly.

What AGDQ is

AGDQ is the flagship winter event on the Games Done Quick calendar: a week-long charity speedrunning marathon in which players complete games as quickly as possible while raising money for a good cause. It runs continuously for seven days, with back-to-back runs across dozens of titles that span generations of hardware and nearly every genre. Runners give live commentary explaining their routing, tricks, and split-second execution, while a donation tracker displays real-time fundraising progress and unlocks bonus content through viewer-funded incentives.

Games Done Quick has grown from a scrappy 2010 living-room broadcast into one of gaming's most recognisable charity institutions. Its two annual tentpole events, Awesome Games Done Quick in January and Summer Games Done Quick in the middle of the year, have collectively raised tens of millions of dollars for organisations including the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. The appeal is simple: extraordinary play, a warm and welcoming community, and every donated dollar going somewhere that matters.

Key details at a glance

• Event: Awesome Games Done Quick 2026 (AGDQ 2026)
• Dates: January 4–10, 2026
• Location: Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown, Pittsburgh, PA (with a global online audience)
• Beneficiary: Prevent Cancer Foundation
• Where to watch: Twitch and YouTube

Why PlayStation fans should care

Speedrunning marathons are platform-agnostic by design, but PlayStation history runs deep through the AGDQ schedule. PS1-era classics are marathon staples, and the community keeps finding fresh ground in celebrated PlayStation-associated series as new tricks and routes are discovered. Watching a runner dismantle a game you have played, using glitches and movement tech you never knew existed, is a genuinely eye-opening way to see a familiar title in a new light.

There is a practical payoff too. Speedrunners are, by necessity, the closest students a game has of its systems, and their commentary is a masterclass in mechanics, level design, and optimisation. If you enjoy digging into how games actually work, AGDQ pairs naturally with the deep single-player experiences PlayStation is known for. It makes a fine companion to a backlog session with the year's standouts on our best PS5 single-player games and best PS5 games of 2026 so far lists, and a reminder of just how much replay value a well-made game can hold.

How to watch and catch VODs

The live broadcast runs free on the official Games Done Quick channels on Twitch and YouTube, as a single continuous stream that rolls through the entire seven-day schedule. Both platforms have PS5 apps, so you can put the marathon on the big screen in your living room without any extra hardware, which is by far the most comfortable way to enjoy a long run block. No subscription is required.

If you are reading this after the event, nothing is lost. GDQ archives every run to its YouTube channel in the weeks that follow, cut into individual videos so you can jump straight to a specific game rather than scrubbing through a week-long VOD. That makes the back catalogue an ideal way to explore: search for a favourite title, watch a single 30-to-60-minute run, and move on. To donate or review what was raised, the official tracker and gamesdonequick.com remain the authoritative sources.

Getting the most out of a marathon

A continuous seven-day stream can feel daunting, so a little strategy helps. These tips apply equally to the live event and the archive:

• Follow the schedule, not the clock. Use the published run list to pick specific games rather than tuning in blind. You will find runs of titles you love scattered throughout the week.
• Watch a genre you enjoy. The lineup usually blocks similar games together, so if you love RPGs or racers, cue up those runs the way you would build a playlist.
• Stick around for the big finale. Marathons traditionally close on a marquee, crowd-pleasing run, and the final donation push tends to be the most electric stretch of the entire week.
• Donate through official channels only. Give exclusively via the tracker or gamesdonequick.com. Legitimate GDQ fundraising never happens through DMs or unofficial links.
• Keep the commentary on. The runner and couch commentary is where the education lives; it turns a fast playthrough into a genuine explanation of how the game breaks.

Looking ahead

With AGDQ 2026 in the books, attention turns to the summer half of the Games Done Quick calendar and, eventually, next January's winter marathon. Both follow the same free, community-driven, charity-first formula, so everything in this guide carries over. It is worth keeping the broader PlayStation calendar in view too: the back half of 2026 is stacked, from the arrival of GTA VI in November to a busy autumn of first-party releases, and our events hub tracks the shows and marathons worth your time. Whether you tune in live or work through the archive, AGDQ remains one of the most rewarding ways to spend time with games, watching the medium's most dedicated players push titles you thought you knew to their absolute limits, all for a cause that reaches far beyond the screen.