Five things to know about speedons, the charitable video game marathon that celebrates five years

A marathon where every second counts, each donation too. Speedons, the event combining video games and solidarity for the benefit of doctors of the world, returns for a fifth edition from February 27 to March 2, 2025. Presented live on Twitch, from the Palais Le Center des Congrès de Lyon, the meeting gamers will bring together a hundred « speedrunners » who will take turns to finish the video game of their choice as quickly as possible. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of “viewers” expected every day, 2,800 people will attend the event on site.

A charity marathon dedicated to speedrun

Before being a charity event, Speedons is the meeting of Speedrun lovers. For 75 hours, without interruption, players take turns to finish a video game as quickly as possible. It is not only a question of speed, but also of technical and strategic mastery. Players seek to optimize each movement, each action, including the use of shortcuts and even errors in the game code. Among the games selected this year, we find we find Super Mario All-Stars, Barbie or Spirou.

An event launched by Mistermv

The event was created in 2020 by the Streamer Mistermv, Xavier Dang of his real name. Aged 44, he is one of the deans of streamers in the world of video games. He started on the Streaming platforms Elive and Showprime in 2011 before joining Twitch in 2012. In parallel he launched his YouTube channel in 2010, on which he mainly republishes part of his direct. From the start, he animates and participated in events dedicated to speedrun, such as the Games Done Quick, an event across the Atlantic Pioneer of the Marathon of gaming charity. Speedons is also very inspired. Today, it has more than 1.3 million subscribers on Twitch and Youtube.

A fundraising for the benefit of doctors of the world

Since its first edition, Speedons has shown all of the donations collected in Médecins du Monde. In five years, the event has raised almost 4.7 million euros since its first edition to support access to care of the most vulnerable populations. Last year, the edition broke all records with two million euros.

During the event, spectators are regularly invited to go to the Speedons.fr website to make donations. “In addition to doing a good deed, they can give interest to the event. Depending on the number of gifts, challenges will have to be made, like finishing a band with blindfolded for example ”, Explained Mister MV in 2024. The sale of online t-shirts is also an important source of funds for the NGO. “The more we exceed certain sales levels, the more important the margin for doctors of the world”he adds.

Spectacular and unpublished performances

Each year, Speedons offers impressive runs on cult and recent games. World records attempted live and collective challenges make the marathon success. The duration of the performance depends on the game. In 2023, the player was built up a new world record on Command and Conquer Remastered. The Qlex player, a specialist in Tetris, has come to the end for the first time from Tetris Grand Master.

Last year, the Borther_main player finished the game Metroid In 1 h 28. Performance each time acclaimed by the fusion public. The players are not paid but receive a deframe for the trip.

A growing success each year

From year to year, Speedons broke its own records: more spectators, more games, and above all, more donations. Each place is sold at a price of 15 euros per day. Its fifth anniversary could again be a historic edition, exporting internationally with a broadcast in Germany, Japan and the United States on the Games Done Quick (GDQ), the Speedrun Marathon most followed world. After having recorded 1.5 million spectators unique last year, the audience could explode this year.