Awesome Games Done Quick raises another cool million for charity (Update)

Awesome Games Done Quick, the annual charity speed-running marathon, once again raised more than $1 million from donors who tuned in over Twitch this past week to see bizarre and exciting feats of video gaming. The money will be given to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

As of this writing, the total amount raised from donors is $1,262,775.68, from 29,360 donors. Contributions still are being accepted so that figure may rise. Awesome Games Done Quick added another $400,000 or so in sales of merchandise (and a themed Humble Bundle of games) that also are ongoing. Those proceeds also will benefit The Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Update: As of Monday, Awesome Games Done Quick says more than $1.5 million has been raised in donations alone.

Last year's Awesome Games Done Quick set a goal of $500,000 and easily doubled that by the end of the weeklong session. A companion event, Summer Games Done Quick, also raised more than $700,000 for Doctors Without Borders. 

This winter, organizers set a goal of $1 million and apparently crossed that threshold about four hours ago. The final amount contributed will be announced sometime in the next week.

Thanks @Twitch and @humble for adding those to our tracker at the last minute! It's official, over $1.1 million dollars raised! #AGDQ2015

— Games Done Quick (@gamesdonequick) January 11, 2015

For the uninitiated, Awesome Games Done Quick is one of the best examples of why watching people play video games can be so entertaining. This week, dozens of competitors took a shot at finishing classic and modern video games in record times, or by completing them under certain conditions (such as blindfolded).

For a full list of the results, with links to videos of each run, see this thread on Reddit's speedrunning subreddit. The videos will later be uploaded to Games Done Quick's YouTube channel for archival purposes. A "bonus stream" is set to begin at noon ET.

A massive hand to all our runners, volunteers, viewers and donors. You all made this possible, and you make us keep striving! #AGDQ2015

— Games Done Quick (@gamesdonequick) January 11, 2015