Overview
#Speedrunning culture exploded in the 2010s as YouTube/Twitch made competitive game completion mainstream. The practice of beating games as fast as possible—using glitches, exploits, or tool-assisted perfection—created dedicated communities, charity events raising $40+ million (GDQ), and record progression obsession.
Categories & Techniques
Any% (fastest completion, glitches allowed), 100% (all collectibles), glitchless, blindfolded runs, tool-assisted speedruns (TAS), and randomizer seeds. Famous techniques: Super Mario 64 backwards long jump, Ocarina of Time arbitrary code execution, Dark Souls wrong warps, and frame-perfect tricks.
Community Pillars
Games Done Quick (AGDQ/SGDQ charity marathons, $40M+ raised for Doctors Without Borders/Prevent Cancer Foundation since 2010), speedrun.com leaderboards, Karl Jobst documentaries, Summoning Salt history videos (“Home - We’re Finally Landing” soundtrack ubiquity), and drama (cheating scandals, spliced runs, verification processes).
Sources:
- GDQ statistics: https://gamesdonequick.com/
- Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/