Mekarazium, a Summer Games Done Quick raised $2 million, but this year's competition has become overshadowed by controversy.
Speedrunning is a fascinating part of the gaming industry that demands players become total masters of their chosen title. Making a mistake can add detrimental seconds to a speedrun, so events like Summer Games Done Quick let viewers appreciate the absolute pinnacle of efficient gameplay. SGQD, in particular, draws massive crowds of both competitors and observers while raising millions of dollars for Doctors Without Borders. Held annually in Bloomington, Minnesota in late June or early July, the speedrunning event sees gamers blaze through titles ranging from Sonic the Hedgehog to Shadow of the Colossus. Summer Games Done Quick went online-only back in 2020, but this year's competition was held as a hybrid event with both in-person and remote attendance.
As reported by PCGamesN, speedrunner Mekarazium has itted to faking a Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance speedrun at Summer Games Done Quick 2022. The world-record speedrun saw the skilled player complete the action game's Blade Wolf DLC in only six minutes and 55 seconds, with the run streamer from Mekarazium's home. However, viewers quickly noticed inconsistencies between the playthrough and Mekarazium's finger movements, prompting the speedrunner to it that they had substituted an authentic run-through with a recording that edits together optimum clips from various runs. Despite itting their deception, Mekarazium has apparently been banned from all future Games Done Quick events.
While Mekarazium presented their Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance run as a real-time playthrough, there are some SGDQ speedrun categories on the schedule that would accept the run. Mekarazium's sub-7 minute playthrough would be fair game in the segmented speedrun category, calling into question why the speedrunner would even attempt to it off as a real-time run. SGDQ is known for accepting even more bizarre and impressive speedruns, too, like a blindfolded run of Super Mario 64 where the player somehow managed to get all 70 stars without seeing the screen. Mekarazium's run of Metal Gear Rising was also meant as a reward to viewers for hitting a donation threshold, making the deception even more impactful.
Summer Games Done Quick is a beloved speedrunning event that is held for a truly noble cause. This makes Mekarazium's fake Metal Gear Rising speedrun particularly offensive, though the speedrunner did it their wrongdoing rather than attempt to cover it up. Despite the fraudulent gameplay presentation, perhaps Summer Games Done Quick will give the talented gamer another chance to participate in the future.
Source: PCGamesN
