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The speedrunning charity marathon, Games Done Quick, says that their next major event will be online-only. The organizers for Games Done Quick say that Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) 2023 will not be held as an in-person event in Florida as originally planned. The main reasons for this move to being online are two-fold: Florida's "continued disregard for COVID-19's dangers and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals."
In recent years, the Games Done Quick events (AGDQ and SGDQ) were mostly held online due to COVID related concerns and quarantines. The most recent event, Summer Games Done Quick 2022, was held as an in-person event in early July and managed to pull in over $3 million (USD) for Doctors Without Borders.
The now online-only AGDQ 2023 will run from January 8 - January 15. Games Done Quick's full statement on their decision can be read below or in this Twitter thread.
It’s official! #AGDQ2023 will be taking place online January 8th-15th!
While we would love to return in-person, we’ve determined that to provide a safe and welcoming event to all it was best that we move away from our originally planned location in Florida.
Given the state’s continued disregard for COVID-19’s dangers (including anti-mandate policies) and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals, including the law colloquially known as "Don't Say Gay," we do not believe it is a safe place for our community.
Immediately after the success of AGDQ 2020, we secured a contract with a venue in Florida to return in 2021. Since the global pandemic was declared, we postponed in-person events until it was safe to return.
We’ve explored multiple options which would allow us to remain in-person by relocating to a safer location.
Unfortunately, the cost required to cancel our contract is too great to justify relocating AGDQ while paying the cancellation fee, and we are no longer able to delay our contract. This ultimately led us to move AGDQ 2023 online.
While the move to online will allow us to save some on expenses, we still have considerable costs to recover. We are looking to recover it wherever possible, including community support via Twitch subs. We thank the community for their support!
Game and Volunteer Submissions open on September 11th! More information can be found at http://gamesdonequick.com.
While we would love to return in-person, we’ve determined that to provide a safe and welcoming event to all it was best that we move away from our originally planned location in Florida.
Given the state’s continued disregard for COVID-19’s dangers (including anti-mandate policies) and an increased aggression towards LGBTQ+ individuals, including the law colloquially known as "Don't Say Gay," we do not believe it is a safe place for our community.
Immediately after the success of AGDQ 2020, we secured a contract with a venue in Florida to return in 2021. Since the global pandemic was declared, we postponed in-person events until it was safe to return.
We’ve explored multiple options which would allow us to remain in-person by relocating to a safer location.
Unfortunately, the cost required to cancel our contract is too great to justify relocating AGDQ while paying the cancellation fee, and we are no longer able to delay our contract. This ultimately led us to move AGDQ 2023 online.
While the move to online will allow us to save some on expenses, we still have considerable costs to recover. We are looking to recover it wherever possible, including community support via Twitch subs. We thank the community for their support!
Game and Volunteer Submissions open on September 11th! More information can be found at http://gamesdonequick.com.
I'm not sure if convention centres offer an affordable cancellation clause in their contracts, or if clients simply say "go ahead and sue me, I don't want a class-action lawsuit of the world being sick from our event. I wish you had a cancellation fee that wasn't highway robbery, but screw it, I'll use my legal team, because their retention fees are cheaper." Meanwhile convention centres and hotels are basically going "you bankrupted me, I have an empty place now and it's too late to reserve for other clients, and customers will wonder why nobody comes to our place... See you in court."
If it wasn't about businesses trying to stay afloat, accommodating and being more flexible due to a raging disease would be so much easier. Sometimes I think COVID-19 is proof the world is completely fucked if a zombie apocalypse happens, because a shockingly large percentage of the population refuses to adapt to disease and just carry on their way of life as if nothing happened.
I don't even know where to begin with Florida's stance on human rights, and their hatred towards anything that doesn't deserve hatred.