Summer Games Done Quick 2023 schedule opens with Sonic Frontiers

Summer Games Done Quick is ready to return to on-site speedrunning. The team will go on earlier than usual this year, forgoing the usual July 4th weekend in favor of the Memorial Day holiday. Despite the early start, there are some amazing games lined up for this year and that includes the Games Done Quick debut of Sonic Frontiers, which will open the week.

Summer Games Done Quick 2023 will begin on Sunday, May 28th live from Minneapolis, MN. It will start with an Any% run of Sonic Frontiers, Sonic's latest adventure that turned out a lot better than many people (including us at Shacknews) expected. This will be followed by another GDQ debut: Bugsnax, which released in 2020 and is making it to the weekly charity marathon for the first time. While there are plenty of new games opening the week and being shown off throughout the week, the event will close with the return of GDQ mainstay Super Metroid. This will be a hacked version of the SNES classic that allows for co-op play.

Elden Ring will return to Games Done Quick on Saturday.
Source: Bandai Namco

Other highlights from the SGDQ 2023 schedule include the following:

Sunday's first Bonus Game incentive is a wild one. It's the GDQ debut of Ring Fit Adventure, in which Verxl will take Nintendo's fitness title and attempt to beat the first world in 20 minutes.
Monday will feature Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the first two Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon titles, and a Bonus Game incentive for a Castlevania: Symphony of the Night randomizer run. Look for back-to-back GDQ debuts to close the day, as viewers are treated to Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne and CrossCode.
Tuesday's morning hours feature the GDQ debut of 2023 breakout hit Hi-Fi Rush. It will close with some hair-raising horror titles, including Signalis, Choo-Choo Charles, and Silent Hill: Downpour.
Wednesday jumps into Sifu and the Hitman 3 Freelancer campaign. It also includes a randomizer run for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The night wraps up with the Silly Games Done Quick block, which features the long-awaited return of Pepsiman, the carbonated hero's first sighting since Summer Games Done Quick 2018.
Thursday sees the debut of another 2023 breakout hit: Pizza Tower. Prior to that, look for exciting runs of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Darkest Dungeon, and a two-player, one controller run of Mega Man 6.
Friday is time to dance with a Spin Rhythm XD run, followed by a Bonus Game incentive for Clone Hero. The night concludes with a Super Mario 64 randomizer run and a Proud Race for Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix.
Saturday will end the week with a warpless Super Mario Bros. run, a glitchless run of Elden Ring, the Super Mario Maker 2 relay race, and one last Bonus Game incentive for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It should be noted that would be a blindfolded run.

This is a triumphant (and hopefully permanent) return to live speedrunning for Games Done Quick after having to take Awesome Games Done Quick to an online space citing hostile Florida politics. The team managed to overcome some major hurdles to raise $2.64 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. This year, SGDQ is raising money for Doctors Without Borders. Check out the Summer Games Done Quick 2023 schedule before the marathon begins at the end of May.